Harry Potter and the Heirs of Hogwarts
by kitkat325
Summary: It's Harry Potter's seventh year at Hogwarts, he has his mission from Dumbledore. The plot is complete, but the story isn't finished, this is more of a first draft. Thanks to everyone who liked my story though.
1. Hello, Goodbye

Harry Potter crouched in a ball in his room, a crumpled photograph scrunched in his right hand. In it, an old man with a silver beard looked up at him, beaming. In the background of the photograph, a young couple danced around while a handsome man with dark hair looked on with joy. His parents wedding photo, Harry had noticed, showcased every person who had stepped in front of Voldemort's ultimate goal. Every one of them had sacrificed their own life, for Harry's sake.

Dumbledore's death was more though. The greatest Wizard in the world had fallen. In Harry's heart he knew the dark lord had won. Despite Ron and Hermione's and _Ginny's _protests, Harry would not be returning to Hogwarts, and he would be completing his mission alone. No one would be sacrificed again.

As for now, he was stuck at Privet Drive until someone came to get him. He wouldn't miss it, and he knows they won't miss him. It was a week before his birthday, and he would be gone from this place forever. Although the order hadn't contacted him, he knew that if he wasn't gone, Voldemort would show up at his doorstep in a week. Therefore it was only a matter of time before someone in the order rescued him.

Harry heard a soft knock at his door. Harry really didn't feel like talking to anyone, especially not a Dursley. Harry thought it was weird that one of the Dursley's might want to talk to him. Curiosity getting the best of him, he called for whoever was knocking too enter.

Petunia Dursley entered with a handful of letters. She wore a worried expression; her normally perfectly placed hair looked as messy as Harry's. They stared in silence, until Petunia broke it.

"Is he really gone?" Petunia whispered. Harry looked her in the eyes, noticing that the shape was similar to his own. He just nodded. "I was told, to give you these, if this occurred." She put the envelopes on his desk. He glanced at the letters and noticed Dumbledore's slanted scroll, as well as neat writing that looked similar too Hermione's. He also noticed a third writer. He would never forget that particular handwriting. The writer that had seemed like such a friend to him in the previous year. This particular writer, the Halfblood Prince aka Snape, was responsible for the fall of the greatest Wizard he'd ever met.

"Wait, you've been in contact with wizards?" Harry asked.

"Just Dumbledore in recent years, the other letters were written before you were dropped on my doorstep."

Harry took the letters, looked at Snape's, and threw it in the trunk. He didn't have the energy to rip it up, and he didn't feel that Snape was worth the emotion.

"Harry, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you're gone forever. I never hated you. I resent what you are. I'm sorry, sometimes childish emotions can take control of someone. I'm not here for forgiveness, or to make peace with you. I doubt I could. But I just wanted you to know." Harry stared blankly for a moment, and then awkwardly leaned over to hug his aunt.

"I won't let him hurt you. I promise." Harry whispered. Petunia knew what he meant, and who he was referring too. She quietly left the room, and Harry sat, staring at the letters. He moved to pick up one of Dumbledore's, but knew right away this action was fruitless. He wouldn't be able to read it with the downpour of tears running down his face. He tucked the rest of his letter into a safe place in his trunk, and sat on his bed, wondering how he was going to keep the Dursley's from harms way as well.

He laid down, figuring he'd be hearing from the Order soon, and it would be best that he was well rested. He drifted off too sleep. A monster from within him purred as he saw a red long mane dancing in the wind. He soon smelt the sweet flowery smell that he so loved.

_CRACK _

He woke up startled. He knew that specific sound, someone magical was around. Interestingly enough, Harry could still smell Ginny's scent.

"Ginny Weasley, what the hell are you doing. You're gonna get caught, the ministry is looking for any reason to put one of us away. What the hell is wrong with you?" Harry yelled, but could only hear a _pair _of giggles.

"She's not alone Harry." Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley removed their invisibility cloaks, still holding hands from the apparition. This was short lived, as Hermione bolted towards Harry. His face was soon covered with chestnut curls. The hug lasted a while, he rubbed the small of her back, the happiness he felt from seeing _and holding _his best friend allowed him to forget his anger at the two of them for traveling alone. They broke apart. Ginny looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, but then spoke up.

"What, no hug for me?" Then she smiled, and gave Harry a soft hug. He once again noticed her sweet scent. He closed his eyes feeling as if he was in a trance. However, the realization hit him like one of Ginny's bat boogey hexes, Ginny and Hermione were in his room! Harry and Ginny broke apart, as both Ginny and Hermione sat on Harry's bed.

"What's going on? Why would the Order send you two? It's too dangerous." Harry looked at both Hermione and Ginny. His world would end if something happened to them. "Ginny, we broke up because-"

"You're a git. Do you think that just because we broke up, I'm not going to help. " Ginny said sternly.

"And Harry, I'm going to be going with you. Do you really think I'm in more danger apparating to the protected Dursley's house than wherever you'll be taking me?"

"About that Hermione--" Harry started.

"About what? I'm going with you. Ron's going with you. That's the end of it. You've given us plenty of opportunity to change our minds, to go back. We are legal adults, we are going with you."

"And If my mother--" Ginny started to say.

"Ginny, I wouldn't give in to letting you come."

"You wouldn't have had a choice." She finished. Harry smiled; he knew she was right, as she was every bit as stubborn as he is.

"Listen, before leaving, I think we should explain how we are going to protect the Dursleys to the Dursleys." Hermione said, in her business like fashion.

"Hermione, I think you should explain to me why you two are here, why Ron isn't here, and where the hell the rest of the order is."

"The Order is in chaos Harry. After Snape was shown to be a traitor, everyone is paranoid." Ginny responded.

"The group is splitting over what should happen. Some want you to tell the Order what your mission is. Mad Eye and Lupin say you should keep your mouth shut. They say Dumbledore told you too, and they think there is another traitor among us. All of the Order members have been put under questioning Harry. I have to say, I agree with Lupin and Mad Eye. Voldemort knows things that only the members of the Order would know. And I think Harry," Hermione continued, "that you should continue to learn Occlumency. Ron is getting better at it, and I can train you as I've learned Legilimency. It isn't that hard, but you have to be able to do it around all members of the Order. This is why Ginny and I are here. We decided, Ron and I and Ginny, that it would be best if we got you, surprised the Order, and got in trouble for it, but at least you were warned." Hermione finished, looking very serious.

"Hermione, we'll talk about Occlumency later, but you didn't answer me about Ron."

"Well, Fred and George are working on making invisibility cloaks. They've only made one, and Ron's kinda tall. And Ginny and I fit better together under it. So it would either have to be an individual coming to get you, or two of us. So Ron's covering for us right now. We thought it was better that way. Mrs. Weasley would notice that the three of us were missing." Harry stared at the two of them.

"But how can I leave, if someone's going to try and read my brain, and how do you know when people are trying to read your mind?"

"Because Harry, I can feel it. I can tell when someone is trying to read mine. I figure, I can teach you to recognize that before we go back, and if you can't block your mind you can at least leave the room."

"And when are we going to do this?"

"We've got a week before your birthday, if it takes a few days, it takes a few days, but I'd like to get going as soon as possible. Ginny, we need to go explain to the Durlseys exactly what you and I are going to do to protect them. As this seems to not be a big deal for the Order at the moment."

"Why not?" Harry questioned.

"Well, some members of the Order feel that muggles are really far down on the list for protecting." Hermione continued, although didn't look too happy, "And some feel like these particular muggles deserve what's coming to them." Ginny coughed in a way that sounded distinctly like Tonks, Lupin, and Mum. Harry smiled, and if it wasn't for his "saving people thing" or his previous conversation with his Aunt, he would probably havepartially agreed. "So, I decided that we are going to give your Aunt and Uncle the same protection my parents received, and the same yours did. I think it would be best for you to be secret keeper." Hermione finished. And looked at Harry, not sure if he was willing to do what she had asked him to do.

"You know how to do it."

"Of course she does." Ginny answered, in a "how could you ask such a stupid question" tone. The trio exited Harry's bedroom, and went down the stairs, he noticed the stair no longer creaked…of course it wouldn't, he thought, there were no longer letters holding it up.

Dudley's eyes darted from both Hermione and Ginny. Certainly, the prettiest girls he had ever had in his house. He licked his lips and started to get up, Ginny moved her hand instinctively to her pocket, where her wand was, Hermione quickly pulled Ginny's hand back down, in a "now's not the best time" sort of way. Dudley, however, saw a flash of a wand, and quickly returned to his seat.

"We need to discuss your means of protection." Hermione said, looking Vernon Dursley straight in the eye. His face turned red. Harry could tell he was about to blow. After all, it wasn't very often that he ever took orders from 17 year old girls, and one that was surely a wizard no less. Hermione's appearance of normal muggle attire seemed to comfort Mr. Dursley, or at least Harry hoped so. Harry noticed that Ginny's attire wasn't completely muggle-esque. He figured she more than likely did that on purpose in an attempt to scare the Durselys a little bit. He laughed to himself as he once again smelt Ginny's flowery scent, and had a sudden urge to wrap his arms around her. _No, he thought, no that's over, and it needs to be over. Don't give her false hope. _Ginny looked disgruntled.

"Are you really leaving Harry?" Dudley asked. Harry nodded, surprised at the sorrow in Dudley's voice. "Then, can I have a word." Harry looked over at Hermione and she motioned for him to go.

"I can explain it, Harry." She said. Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Oh my sweet Dudikins, wanting to wish Harry a good life." Mrs. Petunia wailed. Hermione looked from Mrs. Dursley to Dudley in confusion, and Ginny stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself from laughing. They watched as Dudley and Harry exited the room.

"Okay, so this is how this incantation works. I'm going to cast a spell outside of the House, and Voldemort will not be able to find your house unless your Secret Keeper tells him."

"Well, who will be my Secret Keeper?" Vernon asked.

"Harry." Ginny answered.

"He wants us dead."

"I assure you, if he wanted you dead, you would be." Ginny snarled back, leering at both Dursleys. Hermione looked at her suspiciously, but then looked back at the Dursleys. They stood in silence for a moment, waiting for Dudley and Harry to get back.

"Out of curiosity, Mrs. Dursley, why didn't you boot the two of us out?" Hermione asked.

"Harry had said that some members of his group would be coming. I just expected better protection." Vernon Dursley answered, he looked just as disgruntled as Ginny did.

"Right now, I'm afraid, this is the best protection Harry feels comfortable with giving you. This was what protected Lily and James."

"They're dead." Mr. Vernon shot back.

"Only because someone told, you git, hence 'secret keeper.'" Ginny snapped back, impatiently.

"We'll just need to stay here a few days though, until Harry is ready to leave. I hope you don't mind." Hermione said politely.

"Maybe I do mind"

"Then maybe we won't protect you." Ginny answered.

"Vernon just let them be." Petunia said, wisely. She smiled at Ginny and Hermione. They reminded her of a pair of loving sisters.


	2. Please Mr Postman

"I was just wondering Harry, what's it like?"

"What do you mean, Duds?" Harry joked, but jumped back, just in case Dudley decided now was a good time to throw a punch.

"I mean, to be a wizard."

"Dudley, it's the best and worst thing that ever happened to me. It's part of who I am." Harry answered, wondering where this was going.

"I got a letter Harry." Harry looked at Dudley funny. "Not to go to school, but an explanation. It seems, Mum and Dad only agreed to take you in, on one condition from Dumbledore. That I wasn't allowed to go the school. And since Dumbledore died, apparently that broke the charm. That's what Dumbledore meant by mom and dad ruining me." Harry looked at Dudley, wondering if this was some sort of joke. But then he remembered Dudley was able to see dementors, and only wizards can see them. "Harry, I needed to tell someone. Do you know what I saw with the Dementors?" Dudley asked. Harry shook his head. "I saw the look on Mum and Dad's face when they found out that I could do magic. I can do some Harry. And I've learned to avoid doing it around people. But I just, I wanted to know..should I have fought for it."

"Family, is the most important thing in the world Dudley. Your Mom and Dad would love you no matter what. And whatever choice was right for you, was the right one to make. You probably wouldn't have been happy there; a lot of people could have given you a tail." Harry smiled at him.

"Good luck Harry." Dudley said as he sighed "And thanks for saving me." They shook hands, and bonded for the first time, a night of many firsts, in Harry's life. A secret shared by two cousins, that Harry would keep to himself, and that Dudley would forever be grateful for having someone to tell.

"So is one of them your girlfriend?" Dudley asked, as they started walking back to the kitchen.

"No, Ginny was..and Hermione..Hermione's just.." Harry didn't know what to say..

"Hot..they're both hot. I'm not even sure which one your talking about but both of them are hot." Harry looked at Dudley and he smiled.

"Dud's you don't want to date either of them. If there are two people in the Wizarding world capable of hexing you into the next century, it's those two. And besides, I wouldn't let you near either of 'em anyway." They shared a rare laugh. Harry imagined that laughing would be a rare occurrence in his life, at least until Voldemort was vanquished.

They walked into the sitting room together, where Ginny Hermione and the Dursley's sat in silen ce.

"Ready Harry," Hermione said softly.

"Wait Harry, I'll be secret keeper, it's too dangerous for you to be outside." Ginny said quickly.

"It'll take a minute, Ginny, and if it's too dangerous for me it's too dangerous for you." Harry whispered. Hermione looked at the former couple, and beamed, although her smile did not reach her eyes. And Harry noticed, she looked over at Ginny longer than necessary.

Hermione and Harry walked outside. She performed the spell, citing the proper incantations. He pledged to be secret keeper. And the protections were set. Hermione also soundproofed the house, and completed a massive memory jinx on the rest of the neighborhood. They no longer remembered that the Durlsey's house existed.

"You know, it's funny. I'm able to penetrate everyone's mind but Ginny's. I mean, even Mad Eye I can eventually break. But Ginny…it's weird, I wonder how she learned Occlumency." Hermione said, more to herself than to Harry. But Harry answered anyway,

"She probably picked it up from when I was talking about it. Ginny's always looking to get involved. She knew I was trying to learn it, she probably thought it was necessary."

"Yeah." Hermione agreed, but she didn't seem completely convinced.

"Now, you won't be able to leave, not until Harry gives you the say so. This will be after he destroys the Dark Lord. Until then, you have never ending supplies running into your house. You just need to open up your fridge, and it will always be stocked. But you can not leave, unless you plan on risking your lives. The Dark Lord shouldn't know exactly what you look like, but this is just a precaution." Ginny said. Harry and Hermione could hear her from outside, as they walked towards the house.

They all looked at each other, and then finally, Hermione said "Harry, I think we should start on your training, maybe we can get you aware before the end of the night, and we can get back to the Burrow tomorrow morning. I don't know how long Ron's going to be able to cover for us." Harry sighed, and looked at Ginny, hoping Ginny would rescue him. He hated these types of lessons. "Harry, it's important. If someone in the order is really a spy. They can not find out what we are up too." Hermione finished.

"What are you up too?" Ginny asked.

"Ginny, I've already explained, Harry is not allowed to tell anyone but myself and Ron. We have to do what Dumbledore says, he knows what's best. And speaking of which, Harry, His portrait seems to feel it would be best if we are to stay at Hogwarts for our last year. He seems to feel that without our presence, the school will be taken over." Hermione finished her sentence and looked over at Harry waiting for his steam to blow. But Harry looked confused.

"I can't imagine being at Hogwarts without Dumbledore." Harry said quietly.

"Harry, it's what Dumbledore wanted." Ginny said. They entered Harry's small room, and sat down on the floor.

"McGonagall has talked to me. She said we'd have free rain to go wherever we needed too. She also wanted to give you this." Hermione handed him his head boy badge. She took hers out and waved it around a little, smiling at him. "The suite will be good for a headquarters. She said Ron would have full access to it as well, although I'm sure he'll be pleased when he finds out your head boy." Hermione said with an eye roll, surely her head filling with memories of a jealous Ronald. "Okay, I'm going to read your mind a few times, just so you get the feel." Hermione stared at Harry, unlike Snape she didn't look deep into his eyes, obviously he thought, a wizard wouldn't have to, or it would be too obvious. He felt something funny, but it wasn't nearly as intrusive as Snape's was.

"Did you get a sense Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I think so."

"I'm going to try again." Hermione said, not completely believing him. This continued for a good hour. Harry began to really be able to tell, and actually block Hermione a little bit. However, Hermione would always break it. He secretly wondered how Ginny could block it so well. Ginny was so like him, her emotions quite often getting the best of her. "Okay Harry, now I'm going to do it randomly and you have to tell me when I am, all right." Harry nodded, he got them all right until; "Harry, I didn't do it that time."

"Yes you did, Hermione I felt it, clear as day. It was more powerful than you have been."

"Harry I'm telling you that I didn't. Maybe you've just had enough for tonight. Why don't we get some sleep and then leave tomorrow morning." Harry nodded. He looked over on his bed; Ginny had fallen asleep there, hours before, her sheet of red hair falling gently over her side. He noticed how his whole room began to smell like her. "It's too bad we can't use magic, we could make ourselves some nice beds, or something." Hermione said, wishfully.

"You just used magic on me for five hours?"

"That was magic of the mind, no wand required." Hermione answered. Together, they gathered sheets from the linen closet, and a few pillows, which Hermione snuck out of Dudley's room, after Harry flatly refused to go in there. Harry, being the gentleman he was, offered Hermione all of the blankets, but after looking pathetic while curled up on the floor, Hermione beckoned him over to her. "We can share Harry; I think we can handle sleeping next to each other." Harry crawled over to her. He held on to her, hoping he wouldn't have one of his nightmares, or a certain other type of dream. They curled up together and drifted off too sleep.


	3. Yesterday

Ch. 3.Yesterday

Harry woke up with soft curls covering his face. His back felt sore, and he had a headache. It took him a while to remember that those curls happened to be from his best friend, as well as the headache. His arm felt tingly, as Hermione was still laying on it. At first he thought of moving his arm slightly, but she looked so peaceful, and he felt it was better to not wake her up. He heard a giggle from above him.

"Good choice, she'd probably hurt you if you woke her up." Ginny whispered. Then she looked serious for a moment. Once again, giving Harry one of her infamous hard blazing looks, while looking into her eyes memories of the two of them together played like a movie in his head. His head hurt. "Harry, I don't care about what threatens me, I want to be with you." She said quietly, but it was stern at the same time.

"Ginny, we just can't be together, okay. I will not be responsible for your death." Harry said, her sweet scent was ever so evident, and of course he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms at the moment. He closed his eyes, and found himself holding Hermione close to him, feeling comfort in her warmth. Her eyes opened slowly.

"Harry, we really need to be going." She said hurriedly, as if she had just had a cup of espresso. She pulled out her handbag and opened it wider than it should have been able to open. "Harry, put your stuff in there."

"Hermione, you'll never be able to carry that. Wait, what am I saying. My stuff will never fit in that thing."

"Oh Harry, I've put a charm on my purse, it'll fit everything in there. I figured it would be helpful." Harry smiled appreciatively to her.

"You're amazing." Harry said, Hermione blushed and looked away. The trio packed Harry's stuff away, and Hermione put her handbag in her pocket. They held hands, ready for the side along apparation. As they spun, Harry immediately felt the sensation of being pushed through a tube. He remembered how much he didn't like apparation.

They landed in Ginny's room where Hermione was also staying. Harry looked at their beds. Frizzy brown hair was popping out of one bed, and shinny red hair popping out of the other. The room, Harry noticed, was not silent, but rather a faint snoring noise was coming from each bed.

_SMASH_

"Damn it" Harry heard an all too familiar voice yell.

"Ronald, watch your tongue." Mrs. Weasley yelled up the stairs. Ginny giggled as Hermione opened the bedroom door. She found Ron on the ground; a tray full of food spilled everywhere. Hermione rolled her eyes, and with a flick of her wand, the mess was cleaned up. Ron looked up to see Harry and smiled widely.

"HAR--"he paused, as his mother was listening. "MIONE…thank you very much." Ron ran into the room giving Harry a hug.

"When did you guys get here? Is he all right? Does he know? Mom suspects we're up to something Hermione. She doesn't completely buy that you two are sick." Ron finished, although he spoke quietly knowing that his mother might be listening in.

"I think she's going to figure out what we are up to now." Ginny said sarcastically, she gave Harry a wink and Harry smiled back, weakly.

"Well, we might as well get this over with. The Order's not going to be too happy." Hermione said.

"I think Lupin and Mad Eye will be silently glad." Ron said. They walked downstairs; Harry felt dragons flying around in his stomach. It surprised him that Molly could scare him, when he would soon be facing death when going up against Voldemort.

When they reached downstairs, Hermione spoke up. The room had suddenly gone silent, Order members looked at Harry, and he felt about thirty glares in their general direction.

"Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Ginny and I have something we want to talk to you about." Hermione said. Harry heard Tonks laugh, and looked over to see Lupin trying to hide his grin. Mrs. Weasley was busy in the kitchen. It seemed as if there was another Order meeting, and it didn't look as if anything had been accomplished because Order members were also glaring at each other.

"Oh, good to see you are feeling better Hermione. WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" Mrs. Weasley had turned around to speak to Hermione, when she noticed Harry.

"Um, well, you see Mrs. Weasley. We thought that we should just go get him, and bring him back. We even protected the Dursley's, everything is taken care of."

"Hermione, I understand you all want to help, but this was very dangerous." Mrs. Weasley's face was white, but she tried to remain calm while talking to Hermione.

"Mom, we're safe. We didn't die. And everything is fine. Now you all can deal with more important things." Ginny said in a harsh tone, as if she was sick of being treated like a baby.

Mrs. Weasley looked angrier than Harry had ever seen her. The combination of Ginny talking back, and Ginny risking her life did not make her happy.

"Ginevra Weasley UP STAIRS NOW" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

"Mom no, I'm sick of this. I need to know what's going on; you can't just continue to put me in time out."

"I'm your mother." Mrs. Weasley said. This was much quieter, and much angrier, but at the same time Harry could sense some sadness in her voice.

"And we're at war. Stop babying me. I need to hear what's going on here. I'm sure some of it applies to me." Harry watched as Ginny stayed stern. He'd seen Ginny whine before, but never so angry. He looked over at her, as she was glaring at everyone. Harry shook his head and instinctively wrapped his arm protectively around Hermione's waist. He knew they were going to be yelled at soon, and that Hermione and him were going to try and take the blame away from Ron and Ginny. Neither of them had parents in the Wizarding World, so neither could get in too much trouble. Besides, things like parental punishment seemed to not be that important any longer. He watched as Mrs. Weasley's face turn a bright red and she stomped off.

"She's your mother Ginny, you have to obey her." Lupin said quietly. "I understand you want to help. However, you aren't old enough to help."

"I'm not a baby. You know that. I need to know what's going on, for my own protection. If the Order is going to have a meeting, I should know first hand, instead of through other methods." Ginny said. She gave the Order members a threatening look. Harry looked at her again, and he could have sworn she leered at him and Hermione. Harry shook his head, Ginny's just upset she's angry with everyone. She probably expected us too back her up. He thought she didn't need it, and that it looked like she'd be getting her way this time. "In case you all haven't noticed, no I will not be fighting. But I will be going back to Hogwarts, and there's a pretty big threat there too. I know the Slytherins are going to try and take over the school. Wouldn't I be of better use to try and convert people, to try and help the Order?"

"Ginny, you need to stay safe. If you are worried about going back to Ho--" Arthur started. Harry had never seen someone look as mad as Ginny was at that moment.

"Scared! You think I'm scared. I am not scared, I want to help. And I am going to help, whether you all want me too or not."

"I think she should stay through the meeting. They all need to know. Transparency is the best way too go. We might have known a bit more about Snape, had we not kept everything so secret." Tonks said seriously. Speaking up for the first time. Harry had watched Molly walk back into the room, her arms crossed and her lips thinner than McGonagall's get when she's angry.

"Secrecy's always the best way to go." Mad Eye said, looking suspiciously at Ginny. And suddenly Harry said something…not really knowing where he got the guts to say anything.

"I think it's best if Ginny stays. She's going to find out anyway. We always did." Ginny smiled.

"Fine, But we're going to ask the questions first. What the hell were you three thinking? Risking your lives for a mission that the Order was already going to attempt?" Mrs. Weasley said.

"We were thinking we better get Harry before Voldemort does. The Order isn't accomplishing anything." Ginny snapped.

"We also thought that it might be best for us to rescue Harry. I'm not accusing anyone here, but we are all nervous of insiders or traitors in the Order, especially after Snape. And I thought, that it's best that Harry was rescued by people we know aren't insiders, with adequate warning of the risks involved." Hermione finished. Lupin nodded in approval. And then Mad Eye spoke.

"You are a genius Hermione. Really, I just hope you don't make the same mistakes Dumbledore did." Mad Eye said. Hermione and Mad Eye stared at each other for a moment. And Harry noticed that Mad Eye's comment seemed to be more of a warning, than a wish. Hermione crossed her arms, she seemed anxious after Mad Eyes words. The room stayed silent until:

"What are you three planning on doing? What did Dumbledore want you to do?" Mrs. Weasley asked. Harry answered.

"He told me not to tell anyone."

"Harry, you have to think that things are different now. That Dumbledore would have wanted you to tell now that he…that he's…" McGonagall said. She couldn't quite say that he's dead without quivering her lip.

"We talked about this before. Dumbledore never said to do anything different. So I'm not going to. I'm not sure if we will be returning to school or not, Hermione and I and Ron will keep you updated." Harry finished. The rest of the order knew his position was finalized. And that Hermione and Ron were way to loyal to Harry and Dumbledore to ever tell their secret. Ginny, however, looked disgruntled. Harry knew that it killed her inside, to not know what Harry would be doing.

"I think Harry and his friends are right." Mad Eye said. Harry noticed that he had a similar aura to Dumbledore. Everyone listens to him. And when what he says something is final, it's final.

"All right, you've asked us questions, now we get to ask you questions." Ron said. He had been quiet this morning. But Harry knew Ron was right. Him, Hermione and Ron needed to know what the Order will be up too.

"We believe Voldemort will attempt to take over the ministry first. We expect Hogwarts will be another target. We expect the takeover to be underground, just like it was before."

"That's nice, but what are we doing to stop it." Ginny snapped again. Harry thought she was being a little rude, but figured she was still a little upset over the fight she had earlier.

"Nothing so far, as you four pointed out, we couldn't settle on a way to get Harry. We are in complete disagreement, and we don't trust each other." Bill said fleur nodded, as she smiled and waved at Harry.

"United we stand, divided we fall. Voldemort wants as to be fighting and to not trust each other." Hermione said. Harry knew there were probably tears of frustration in Hermione's eyes. Harry could tell that there was something wrong with her. He could tell she was tense. He rubbed the small of her back to comfort her, as everyone waited in silence.

"Look Hermione. You're right. But there's no way to tell." Said Bill

"We can trust each other. Trust that Harry Ron and I will accomplish what we need to accomplish. Trust that Ginny can handle herself in this war, and trust that we can depend on each other." Hermione said.

"Like Dumbledore did-" Ron said.

"Like Dumbledore would have wanted us to do." Harry finished before Hermione could snap back at him. "He made a mistake, but all of us didn't trust Snape at one point or another. We all trusted each other."

"I don't trust everyone." Said Mad Eye. "But Hermione's right. We won't accomplish anything if we sit here and worry about whether we can trust each other." Hermione nodded, thankful that an adult, a respected order member, agreed with her.

"Well it's settled then. Dinner, and then we'll actually get things done." Arthur said. The room seemed to be instantly warmer and people began to chat amongst themselves while waiting for dinner. Hermione turned to Ron, Harry, and Ginny and motioned to go upstairs. She moved quickly, and Ron and Ginny followed her. Harry noticed Mad Eye follow Hermione up the stairs, a smirk on his face.

Harry entered Ginny's room. Hermione was near the door, glaring at them. She slammed the door behind Harry and took out her wand.

"Ron, what does your patronus turn into?" Hermione asked. Her hair looked like it was full of electricity.

"A dog." Ron stammered. He was clearly confused at Hermione's harshness.

"Ginny, who's your favorite brother?"

"Um…Bill." Ginny answered. She didn't look confused, but was seething at Hermione. Hermione relaxed, but still glared at Ginny. "Aren't you going to check Harry?" Ginny asked.

"I read his mind for five hours, I know it's him." Hermione said. And then Harry realized what she was doing. Mad Eye, had warned Hermione about Ron and Ginny. Hermione seemed to be relaxed a bit more, after the answers. But Harry could tell she still thought something was wrong.

Life was weird, a month ago; Hermione would have never suspected any of her friends of betrayal. Yesterday, he was wondering when the Order would rescue him, and when he was going to make plans with Ron and Hermione. Today, his journey was about to vanquish Voldemort was about to begin. Then he remembered, he still had a wedding to go to.


	4. Hold Me Tight

There seemed to have been a silent agreement among the Order not to talk about Voldemort, or anything depressing, until after Bill's wedding. It seemed as if everyone knew that this wedding, was going to be the last happy moment for a long time.

Harry and Ron found themselves shooed out of Ginny's bedroom as the girls got ready for the wedding. Harry and Ron remembered how long it took Hermione to get ready for the Yule Ball, and figured they wouldn't be seeing either girl for a while.

To keep them busy, Mrs. Weasley put them too work. They were forced to be around the rest of the group, Harry had the suspicion that Mrs. Weasley was attempting to overhear what Ron, Hermione, and Harry were planning. So Harry and Ron kept the conversation mundane.

He's seen how magic works, but still, Harry couldn't believe the transformation the Burrow made. It looked absolutely stunning. Mr. Weasley had performed the same spell Hermione had used on her handbag. The rooms were enormous. The downstairs was complete with a dinning area which was also a ball room and of course, a wedding chapel. The decorations in both rooms were mostly silver with a touch of gold. The ballroom had diamond dust dropping from the ceiling like a slight snow shower, when it hit the floor, Harry noticed it disappeared. The room was shaped like a dome, with a beautiful diamond chandelier hanging from the center and a waterfall behind the band setup.

Harry had wondered why Voldemort hadn't tracked them down at the burrow yet, but Mr. Weasley had informed him that they had used every protection imaginable, including the Fidelius Charm, which was currently protecting the Dursleys. As it turns out, Doby was the secret keeper. Harry thought this was rather brilliant, and with a pang in his heart, silently wondered why his parents hadn't thought of using a House elf.

"Harry," He heard Mrs. Weasley call, "May I talk to you for a moment." Harry sighed, knowing full well what was coming. Almost every member of the Order had tried to get Harry to tell what him, Hermione, and Ron were going to be doing.

"Look Mrs. Weasley," Harry said patiently. "I promised Dumbledore I wouldn't tell-"

"That's not what I came to talk to you about." Mrs. Weasley said. "You're birthday is only three days after the wedding. Could you three possibly stay until after then, so I can give you a birthday party? We'd all appreciate it Harry." Harry was incredibly touched, and suddenly felt hot tears threatening to fall down his face. Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sure we could work something out." Harry said. Hermione, Ron and himself could use a few days to plan their "adventure" anyway.

Hermione and Ginny walked down the stairs, dressed and ready for the wedding. Ginny was wearing her gold robe, as she was part of the wedding. She seemed to sparkle. She wore a gold and green gemmed bracelet, and a gold and green studded barrette in her hair. She drifted past Harry and he smelt her sweet scent. For a moment, he forgot why he ever broke up with her.

Then Harry noticed Hermione. She wore silver robes, her hair smoothed in a tail. Harry thought she looked quite pretty. Hermione's look was much more subtle than Ginny's. Ginny seemed to sparkle, but Hermione shimmered. She walked towards Harry and hugged him softly. Harry was taken aback at first, not expecting the hug for no reason, then he felt her breath on his ear.

"Krum's coming, Ron doesn't know." Hermione whispered. They both giggled, and Hermione kept a smile on her face that didn't quite reach her eyes as he and Hermione continued to steal glances. Harry wondered why she kept looking at him the way she did. Although Ginny, for whatever reason, was receiving a death stare. Harry preferred the odd looks to the glare.

Fleur and her parents arrived first. Fleur was dressed in her wedding robes with the Goblin Tiara. She looked stunning. She seemed to match the decorations perfectly. Her robe was pure white. The back of the dress looked like a bouquet of diamond roses. The dress moved with her smoothly, and her typical Veela silver glow seemed to shine brighter. Mrs. Weasley had Ginny bring Fleur up to her room to wait until the wedding began. It was bad luck for the Groom to see the Bride before the wedding. Mrs. Weasley however, hadn't rushed Fleur upstairs in time. Harry had noticed Bill trying, and succeeding, to take a glimpse of his future wife.

As Ginny brought Fleur upstairs, Harry watched as Hermione's eyes followed Ginny all the way to their room. Harry snuck up behind her and rested his head on her shoulder.

"You know, you're getting more and more like Mad Eye every day." Harry said.

"What…um..sorry Harry. I wasn't paying attention, what did you say?" Hermione asked.

"Hermy, you okay?" Harry asked, but he backed away because he knew what was coming. Hagrid's giant brother was the only living creature alive allowed to call Hermione "Hermy."

"Harry James Potter.." Hermione exclaimed, as she turned around and started playfully slapping him. They erupted into giggles, as they noticed Ron starting to walk over towards them. Before he got there, Hermione whispered in Harry's ear: "There's something I have to talk to you about after the wedding. Meet me in Fred and George's old room later."

"Hermione, you look nice for a change." Ron said, he smiled. Ron still didn't have any tact, Harry thought. He didn't know much about girls, but knew that insulting them was not the best way to get their attention. Hermione however, smiled at him and muttered something about lacey old dress robes.

Unfortunately for Hermione, Krum was one of the first to arrive. Krum was invited by Fleur, as they had kept in contact after the Tri-Wizard tournament. He smiled when he saw Hermione and gave her a quick hug. He shook Harry and Ron's hand as well. Ron looked like he was conflicted. He seemed to want to punch Krum but also ask for another autograph at the same time. The tense moment passed, but Ron was cranky until Neville and Luna arrived. Neville wore nice brown dress robes, and Luna looked nice in her baby blue robe. The robe made her look like she was floating whenever she walked. She still had that typical airy appearance to her.

When all the guests arrived everyone took their seat in the Chapel portion of the Burrow. Harry sat next to Ron and Hermione. And Fred and George behind them. Luna and Neville sat next to Ron. Harry had never been to a wedding before, and at first he was very curious. Charlie and Ginny were up near the Bride and Groom.

As he looked around, he had a new appreciation for Magic. The flowers next to each row of seats were made of glass crystals. Somehow, the Weasley's had managed to place a lake in their home. Harry imagined it was one of Fred and George's inventions. He smiled, thinking about the lake that Fred and George had left in Hogwarts during Harry's fifth year. People were escorted to their seats by small wooden row boats, and of course the row boats were rowing themselves. The water was beautiful itself. Beautiful flowers that Harry had never seen before seemed to be growing in the water, and rose petals fell from the ceiling, much like the diamond dust in the ballroom, onto the lake.

Wizard Weddings, Harry learned quickly, were very different than what he had seen of Muggle Weddings. Wizards recite their vows to each other, and put rings on each others fingers as well. But as it turns out, there is no Priest, only a statue of Merlin and his wife. After reciting their vows, the couple must hold the hand of Merlin's statue or his wife's statue, and hold each other's hand. At that point, a gold ribbon wraps itself around the couple's hands, uniting the two people. When the ribbon is finished, it bursts into gold dust. And the ceremony was over. Hermione had explained this too Harry while they were waiting for the Wedding to begin. What she failed to explain, wedding vows are quite boring.

Apparently Fred, George, and Ron felt the same way. The four of them had decided that their time would be better spent playing exploding snap. Fred silenced the deck of cards, as they began to play. Harry could feel Hermione glaring at the back of his head. Luckily, Mrs. Weasley had not caught them, and Harry, Ron, Fred and George were boredom free for the rest of the Ceremony.

Hermione didn't talk to Harry or Ron through the short boat ride, and the walk towards their seats in the reception room. When Ginny sat down with them, Hermione seemed to warm up to Harry and Ron and began speaking to them again. The food tasted delicious. Harry wasn't quite sure what it was, as it was clearly French, but his stomach didn't seem to care about the name. Harry noticed Krum talking to Luna, and Ron must have as well because he started ripping his napkin into pieces as he glared in their direction.

"So Harry, will you dance with me later?" Hermione asked.

"Wow, you went from not speaking to me to wanting to dance in about two minutes." Harry responded, but smiled. "Of course we'll dance." He noticed the look on Ginny's face. She wasn't happy. But Harry thought it was best to not even dance with her, He wouldn't want to get her hopes up, or let her get too close for fear he might tell her something he shouldn't.

Sitting with Hermione and Ginny was a little uncomfortable. It seemed a bit odd that Hermione would ask him to dance right in front of Ginny. But Harry never understood girls or their motives. He looked over, just noticing Ron was not at the table, and he saw Luna teaching Ron a dance she had made up. It looked rather clumsy to Harry. Once again Harry pondered about romance. If Ron liked Hermione, why is he dancing with Luna? Wasn't his mistake with Lavender enough? Fred and George had found Fleur's twin cousins. And to Fred and George's delight, they were as pretty as Fleur. Harry watched the twins charm the girls. He saw them grab the girls hands and leave the room.

Hermione, getting impatient and feeling uncomfortable, grabbed Harry's hand and dragged Harry to the dance floor. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Harry, you promise me you'll remember to go to Fred and George's old room tonight." Hermione said.

"Hermione, have I ever broken a promise too you?" Hermione smiled at him.

"Do you want me to answer that?" She said. She smiled. At that moment Harry realized how much Hermione had changed from the eleven year old he met on the train, seven years ago. She looked beautiful. She looked down as they swayed to the music. "It's really important Harry." She said quietly.

Harry could see Ginny at the table, sitting alone. She had taken one of the flowers from the pond and was twirling it with her fingers. Harry watched as she put it in her purse and then started twirling her hair around her fingers . Catching Harry's gaze, she smiled and waved at him. He swore he could smell her sweet perfume from where we was dancing.

He turned his attention back to Hermione, who had just laid her head on his shoulder. Harry thought that this was very un-Hermioneish. But at the moment, holding Hermione seemed peaceful and he was enjoying himself.

"How can we possibly plan for this in three days? " She asked.

"Well, I don't really suppose that we could plan for this if we had a year? I mean, we just have to-"

"Shhh," Hermione cut him off, "People are listening." Harry noticed she was looking at Ginny. When Harry turned his head to look, Ginny didn't look too happy. "Well anyway, Ron said Fred and George have some stuff for us. We can talk about this tomorrow though, let's enjoy our last day of peace." Hermione said wisely. Harry wondered what they were going to talk about later that night..

Hermione and Harry had decided to stop dancing, and watch Tonks, Lupin, Ron and Luna all try and perform Luna's made up dance. They laughed for a while until Luna and Ron dragged them over with the group. He started doing the movements and was enjoying himself a lot. However, out of the corner of his eye he saw Krum and Ginny dancing together. He felt a pang in his heart, but the typical monster growl wasn't there. It felt more like a puppy growling. He turned back to Hermione and smiled as they all enjoyed their last peaceful day together.

After the wedding, the Weasley's, Hermione, and Harry returned the house back to it's normal size. Bill and Fleur had returned to their new magically protected home. Harry was anxiously awaiting his upcoming chat with Hermione. He wasn't sure what she could possibly need to talk to him about.

After the clean up, in which Harry once again had an appreciation for magic, Harry went back to his and Ron's room. Ginny was sitting there waiting for him. He expected this. It wasn't like Ginny to go down without a fight. Harry knew he had to keep strong. Ginny could not know what Hermione, Ron and himself were up to and she certainly could not go with them.

She patted the place next to her on the bed.

"All this talk about Weddings," Ginny started, "it makes me wonder if I'll live to have one." Harry stayed quiet. It was rare for Ginny to become emotional. Her scent filled his nostrels. "Harry, don't you ever wonder…if you'll ever become a man in like the physical sense."

Harry was confused for a moment. He was going to be seventeen in two days. He was in a well protected house. He wasn't nervous about dying in the days approaching his birthday. Then he looked in Ginny's eyes and understood what she meant.

He kissed her passionately, feeling like he was in a daze. He ran his fingers through her hair, unsure of what to do next.

Suddenly, there was a bang on the door. It swung open.

Harry saw Hermione and Ron standing at the doorway, neither looking pleased. Harry knew why Ron was upset, but Hermione's reaction surprised him. Perhaps she thought he was putting Ginny on.

As Ginny left, she leered at both Hermione and Ron.

"Harry, I think we need to have our talk now." Hermione said. They left Ron with a confused look on his face.

They walked to the twins bed room. Harry noticed a few things had been left there. There was a bottle of wonder witch perfume, some puking pasties and some other products Harry hadn't seen at the store (and didn't dare inspect.). Hermione grabbed the bottle and sat down. Harry sat next to her. She showed Harry the bottle:

"Do you know what this is?" She asked.

"Perfume."

Harry was somewhat annoyed that Hermione had interrupted him and Ginny to talk about perfume.

"No Harry, it's a love..a..lust postion. It's one of the products Fred and George sell." Hermione said. She looked nervous. Harry knew that Ron had once again ignored Hermione in favor of another girl, but Harry didn't feel like love potion was the best way to go.

"Ron found it in Fred and George's room and gave it to me for Christmas during our fifth year. Only, I didn't like it. And Oh Harry, don't be mad but, I gave it to Ginny back when I thought it was perfume. She's been using it on you ever sense. Only, it's made out of Veela hair, and Veela seems to wear off on you after awhile. And now she's trying to make Amortentia. Those flowers are part of the ingredients for it. And I saw her take quite a few." Hermione said, very quickly.

"Why would Ginny--"

"Oh Harry, she's been in love with you for forever."

"Yeah, but.."

"She's young. She wasn't thinking about the consequences. She just wanted to be with 'the famous Harry Potter.'" Hermione said, somewhat sarcastically.

"How long have you known? I thought you said she was over me?"

"I thought so too. I've suspected you were under the influence of some sort of love potion for a while. And then when you started dating Ginny, I didn't want to believe she'd do that. But then I remembered the perfume, and I found it in her drawer.

Harry looked at Hermione's face. She looked like she wasn't sure whether to cry or be relieved she was finally letting this out. He wasn't sure how he felt either. Being with Ginny was like a dream for him. He was a normal guy, captain of the quidditch team with a pretty popular girlfriend. But that was just it, Harry thought, that wasn't who Harry was. Nothing was ever simple, peaceful or normal for him.

"What should we do?" Harry asked. "The Weasleys--"

"Have been like family. I don't think we should mention it." Hermione finished. "Just watch yourself, Harry. I don't think she'll be able to make the potion." Hermione said. Harry could tell she didn't believe her words. Neither did he.

"But, just in case she is?" Harry asked.

"I have an anecdote. Fred and George's stuff seems to not be working too much with you anymore. I'm so sorry Harry. I should have known sooner." Hermione said. She started to cry. Harry stood up to hug and console her. He held her for a while confused about his own feelings. He wasn't sure what he felt. He was stunned and a bit depressed He knew he shouldn't tell the Weasley's, although not telling Ron would be quite hard. He wondered what his real feelings for Ginny were. Did he feel more than attraction for her? He cared about her, and he loved the feeling of being normal, but he wasn't sure about anything he felt besides that.

He held Hermione tighter and kissed her forehead. It didn't matter anyway, Harry thought. They'd be leaving in a few days, and he had much more important and worrisome things up ahead in his life.

Hermione was still crying. Harry rubbed the small of her back, still holding her. At that moment, Ron walked in.

"Woah, what's going on? Hermione, are you okay?" Hermione smiled at Ron.

"Yeah, just a bit emotional, you know." Hermione said.

"Well," said Ron, looking uncomfortable with the word "emotional," "Fred and George brought the stuff. They're waiting for us in my room. I was looking all over for you. Why were you guys in their old room anyway?"

"Uhh.."

"I was looking to see if there was anything useful here." Said Hermione. Harry thought this was a weak story, but Ron shrugged his shoulders and dropped the subject. He noticed Ron giving him funny as the walked down the stairs towards Ron's room. When they entered the room, Harry saw Fred and George waiting on Ron's bed, with a smile on both of their faces.


	5. Happiness Is A Warm Gun

"Wow," Hermione said quietly. She was astounded, as was Harry, at the amount of "toys" Fred and George had made for them. Fred and George threw a circular locket at Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"This opens at the clasp. Everything we give you will fit in there. It also has a security feature, drop a piece of your hair in there, and only you can open it." Fred said.

"I love this charm." Said Harry, thinking of Hermione's purse fondly.

"Oh that reminds me, Harry." Hermione said. "I still have these." She had taken out the coins the trio had used for the D.A. in their fifth year. "Maybe they'll come in some use. Whether to spread messages to each other or set up meetings." Harry nodded in agreement and took the master coin from Hermione. Fred and George continued.

"Hermione, I assume you kept the invisibility cloak we gave you and Ginny." Hermione nodded. "Well then, Ron, you receive the first gift. Your very own invisibility cloak" George said. He threw the cloak at his brother, and half of Ron's body promptly disappeared. Harry, Hermione, and Ron smiled at each other. Fred and George were going to be a bigger help than anyone.

Fred and George went through the tools they had brought for Harry, Hermione and Ron. Hermione received a potion kit, complete with rare ingredients to help with healing, she also received a tent, similar to the ones that the Weasley's had borrowed to go to the Quidditch World Cup. This tent could be folded up into the size of a quarter. The inside was quite nice as well, it looked like a mini flat. Hermione had apparently told Fred and George that she didn't know where they would be staying, and if they would be having to search outside. The tent also carried additional security settings. Ron received a flashlight, that only shows light to the person carrying it. He also received some of Fred and George's dark powder. And Harry received one gift, but Harry could tell it took Fred and George months to create it. He received a sword, that he could attach his wand too and then cast spells with. When holding the sword, he would be like a chamelion, blending in with his surrounds.

"The sword was made by goblins, it's one of Charlie's old toys." Fred explained. Harry could not express his gratitude in words. Fred and George passed out a few smaller "gifts" for each of them to store in their little bag, including a spare wand. Harry tried using it. It didn't feel like his old wand, but if an emergency ever happened, they would be useful.

Fred and George left after many thanks were given to them from Hermione Ron and Harry. They kissed their mother goodbye and apparated off. Hermione gave Harry a look and he knew instantly what she meant. They had to tell Ron about Ginny, and they had to start planning for what lies ahead.

"So wait, Ginny did what?" Ron asked for the fifth time, in disbelief.

"She used the potion you gave me for Christmas Ron."

"That wasn't potion"

"It was lust potion."

"How'd she get it?"

"I gave it to her."

"Well that's nice."

"Ron, you found it in your brother's room. It wasn't like you spent time on the gift."

"WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP." Harry yelled, finally interrupting their argument. Hermione and Ron went quiet.

"Are you all right mate?" Ron asked quietly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We just thought that you should know." Ron stayed quiet for a moment. Then he spoke, almost too himself.

"She's been really weird lately." Hermione decided it was time to change the subject, to more important matters.

"So we are agreed, we are going back to school. I thought it would be a good place to start. It's the only part of the country that Voldemort hasn't taken over yet. Dumbledore would want us to protect it as well."

"I think the McGonagall will protect it well enough." Ron said. "I think Hermione's right though. Harry, you said that Voldemort was interested in Hogwarts."

"Obsessed, more like it."

"Well, wouldn't we be able to find out more about the founders at Hogwarts." Ron said.

"Ron's right, I'm sure that's the best place." Hermione said.

"We've already agreed to going back Hermione, but we need to talk to McGonagall and get everything straight."

"Okay." Both Ron and Hermione said. The room went silent for a few moments. Harry, Hermione, and Ron seemed to actually be realizing what they were setting out to do.

"Where should we start?" Hermione asked.

"The same place we are going to research. He loved Hogwarts, we should poke around Hogwarts." Ron said.

"But we have a clue with R.A.B." Hermione answered.

"Hermione's right." Just like she always is, Harry though. "I think figuring out, at least, who R.A.B. is, and going after that Horcrux first is the best course of action, and we can research what the other Horcruxes might be at the school library."

"I think we should head straight to Hogwarts after your birthday." Hermione said. Ron and Harry agreed as Hermione continued. "I also think we ought to really start packing, and we really need a conversation with McGonagall." She finished.

Hermione then yawned, and did something funny. She kissed Ron and Harry goodnight on the cheek, and headed off to bed. Ron looked shocked and a little confused. Harry noticed the spot where she kissed him was still warm.

He said goodnight to Ron and got into bed. When he woke up the next morning, he thought it would be best to try and get in contact with McGonagall as soon as possible.

The next morning Harry woke up to Ron shifting through his stuff, apparently taking Hermione's word about packing to heart. Harry turned on his side to watch Ron.

"We need to talk to McG--" Harry began to say.

"Hey Harry." Harry heard a soft whisper, and turned towards the doorway. There was Ginny. Her beautiful red hair flowing down her back. She looked cute in her pajamas, Harry noticed. Harry also noticed that he felt nothing towards her, except a slight resentment. Ron apparently was even angrier though. Because he got up, without a word, and slammed the door. Harry chuckled and got himself out of bed and dressed. Ginny didn't talk to either of them when she arrived at the kitchen table for breakfast. When Hermione walked down the stairs, dressed in her muggle clothes, it seemed as if Ginny wasn't too happy with her either. However, when Hermione sat down, her and Ginny had a seemingly normal conversation. It amazed Harry how well girls could pretend there was absolutely nothing wrong between them.

"You know, I understand that I'm not invited to go along on your adventure. But, that doesn't give you the right to be rude to me." Ginny stated, as she got up to leave. Ron rolled his eyes.

During breakfast, members of the Order filtered through the kitchen. Lupin decided to sit down and have a bite to eat with Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Harry.

"Minerva should be around at some point today. She's working with Mad Eye and myself at the moment." Lupin said, after being prodded for answers from Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

McGonagall arrived after lunch, looking disgruntled. Things apparently weren't gong well in the wizarding world, and Voldemort was gaining more power. Hermione asked her if they could speak in private. They went to the room Ron and Harry were sharing. Hermione locked the door and soundproofed the room.

"Mad Eye is getting too you, Hermione." said Ron. Harry hoped that they wouldn't start to bicker, and he lucked out it seems because Hermione laughed and sat down next to Ron. Ron looked like he had gotten away with murder, and Harry thought he had too, until he looked down and saw Hermione's wand sneaking out of her pocket, tying Ron's shoes together.

"Professor, what is going on in the outside world right now, we need to know." Hermione asked.

"Voldemort has completely taken charge of the ministry. Hogwarts has split off from the government. We are a separate entity now. Voldemort is leaving the school alone at the moment, but I do not know how long that will last. But having you three there could only help. I'm worried about him using students to take over the school, personally." Her lips were thin. Harry could see a bit of fear on her stern face and decided it was best to change the subject.

"Well, Ron Hermione and I have decided we are definitely coming back this year. But we need you too bend a lot of rules for us." Harry could see McGonagall's lips thinning by the second, but she just nodded.

"To be perfectly honest Professor, we aren't going back to Hogwarts to go to school. We need a headquarters, and we need a place to research. And we felt that Hogwarts would be the best place. We'll be happy to go to classes and everything, but we really haven't got the time to actually go to school." Hermione said. She looked like she was in pain.

"What we need," Harry continued. "Is the ability to leave the school at any time necessary, to not be responsible for any schoolwork, and to have full access to every part of the school." McGonagall nodded. Harry hadn't expected her to agree to everything so easily.

"Professor, this would be a really good cover for us too." Ron said. "If V..Voldemort thinks we are at school, he won't know what we are up to."

"These conditions will be met. But I want you three to understand. I know I'm not Dumbledore, and that he trusted you three to not tell anyone. But if you ever need help. I'm here. And I'm a vault, I will not tell any information that you give me." She said.

"Professor, you have to understand. It's not that Harry, Ron and I don't trust the Order. It's just, the nature of the task…it needs to be as secretive as possible. The more people know, the less likely it will be accomplished." She nodded.

"I figured you three would ask something like this. Dumbledore's picture said as much. In our efforts to keep the school secure, Dumbledore showed me these." She gave Ron, Hermione and Harry a silver ring with the Hogwarts crest at the center. "Wear it at all times. When you say the pass word, it will transfer you back to the Gryffindor Head Boy's Dormitory."

"What's the password?" asked Ron. Professor McGonagall pursed her lips for a moment.

"Lemon drop." Harry snorted.


	6. A begining

Harry awoke the next morning, well aware that he was now of age. He looked around the room. He saw an old package, that must be from Kreacher. As well as three perfectly wrapped gifts (one from Hermione, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley) and two not-so-perfectly wrapped gifts (from Ron and Doby.) Hagrid's typical rock hard cake was there, as well as an interesting gadget (which he assumed was from Lupin and Mad Eye). Ron was already awake, and eating some of Harry's birthday candy.

Hermione knocked at the door and walked in. She sat down on the floor, and the three began opening Harry's present. Mrs. Weasley, had given them "portable food." Hermione was extremely happy when she saw this.

"Some things, can't just be conjured up. This allows us to continue to eat when we leave Hogwarts." She explained.

Harry also received a sweater with his name on it. A piece of fudge and a sock from Dobby, a_ Quidditch Through the Ages Volume II _book, from Hermione, and candy from Ron. He looked at the side of his bed post and saw a dirty old package.

"Who do you suppose that is from?" Hermione asked.

"Kreacher, probably." Ron answered. Hermione's eyes lit up. She put her hands to her mouth, mumbled and ran towards her room.

"I hate it when she does that." Ron said. Harry laughed, but couldn't help feeling frustrated himself.

The plan, Harry had learned from Ron (according to Mrs. Weasley) was that Harry would be stuffed with his favorite meal, his favorite cake, and then given a good nights rest and the trio would leave sometime the next day, so that everyone could say goodbye.

Harry didn't like this idea much. It seemed like it would be a good way for the Weasley's to convince them to go (or in Ginny's case, convince them to let her go). And he also felt like the Weasley's were in danger as long as he was at the burrow.

Luckily for Harry, Hermione changed their minds. They were leaving after his birthday party, that night, as soon as possible.

"I think I know who R.A.B. is." Hermione whispered to Harry during his birthday dinner. Harry stopped eating immediately and looked at Hermione for more of a clue. But Hermione had noticed Ginny listening in and stopped talking.

"We'll meet in Ron's room after the party."

The party itself was somewhat somber. It was as if everyone was fearing this was the last one they'd celebrate with Harry. Everyone's smile didn't quite meet their eyes. When Lupin left, he seemed to hug Harry for an extra long period of time, before apparating away. Harry had heard Hermione talking to Professor McGonagall that they would most likely be seeing her shortly.

The evening came faster than Harry had hoped. He entered Ron's room and Hermione and Ron were already sitting their, having a conversation to themselves. Both of them wearing a smile on their face. Harry, felt a weird emotion that he really couldn't put his finger on. He sat next to Hermione as both Ron and Hermione went silent.

"So who is it Hermione?" Ron asked. Hermione hushed him, and used a silencing spell over the room before talking again.

"I think," she said, "It's Sirius's brother."

"Hermione that's crazy." Harry responded. But then he thought about it. R.A.B. could very well stand for Regulas A.Black. Sirius's brother was killed. And there were plenty of dark objects.

"Hermione, you're brilliant." Ron said. As he had gone through the same thought processes Harry had.

"I think we should go tonight. I've packed everything we need. We just all need to place our hair in our locket. I've stacked everything in my bag as well. We should be all settled. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley want to say goodbye too us. They are waiting downstairs." She finished. Harry took a deep breath and nodded. Tonight was going to be the beginning of the end, either the end of his life, or the end of Voldemort.

"Where should we go first?" Ron asked. "With Dumbledore dead, do we know if we can get into Sirius's old house?" Hermione bit her lip, and Harry knew instantly that Ron was right. There could be death eaters waiting for us there.

"I thought we should probably go to Hogwarts first, and get settled in, and then call go to Sirius's old place." The trio silently agreed. They paused for a moment, before Hermione took her bag, stuck it in her locket, and beckoned Ron and Harry to follow her downstairs.

Harry saw Mrs. Weasley quickly wipe away her tears as they walked downstairs. Ginny was asleep.Harry was glad she was, he didn't feel like fighting at this point. He shook Mr. Weasley's hand. And Mrs. Weasley pulled him into a big hug. He smiled as him, Hermione and Ron took hands and twirled on the spot.

The familiar feeling of being squeezed through a tube overcame Harry before he landed harshly in the Head boys room in Gryffindor.

"I thought we couldn't apparate--"

"We didn't, I used the 'lemon drop' password. I just said it silently, I think no one should know the password. It feels like apparation though." Hermione said. Harry couldn't believe she could think of the littlest but probably really important things.

"This is a nice room." Ron commented. They were in the common room for the Head Boy and Head Girl suites, two rooms connected to it. One was the Head Boy's bedroom and one was the Head Girl's bedroom.

"Ron, well, I thought, that maybe it would be best if you slept in here too. Just so we'd be able to escape easier. I asked McGonagall to put another bed in the Head Boy's bedroom, is that all right?" Hermione asked. Ron seemed thrilled, and Harry thought it was a good idea. He knew Ron wouldn't like being left out, and he'd never shared a room without Ron at Hogwarts, and didn't think this was the time to start.

"Do you think we ought to go to Sirius's house now? Or should we talk to Kreacher?" Hermione asked. She didn't seem to be in a rush to leave Hogwarts.

"Let's be honest Hermione, Kreacher's not going to be of any help." Harry laughed at Ron's comment, but clearly agreed with him. Hermione took a deep breath. They put their invisibility cloaks on.

"Who knows what's in there." she said to herself. They held hands, and thought of 12 Grimmauld Place. Hermione looked around, suspicious of the quietness. They entered the House, it seemed deserted. It looks as if the Order's security settings had held up, but all the same, they mutually agreed that taking off their invisibility cloaks was a bad idea.

Hermione first ran to the tapestry. She looked at Sirius's brother. It certainly looked like it fit. R.A.B…and a collection of dark objects. Harry and Ron nodded to each other, they began to search. Hermione seemed deep in thought, before yelling for Harry.

Harry and Ron came running up the stairs, afraid and excited. Either she had found something, or she was in trouble.

"Something isn't right." She said. Ron and Harry had learned, over the course of seven years, that Hermione's instincts were typically correct. "This doesn't make any sense. Harry, we need to try and talk to Kreacher."

"Very well then." Harry said. He called for Kreacher, who begrudgingly followed orders.

"Kreacher, we are right here."

"I can sees you mud blood." Kreacher hissed.

"Kreacher, Hermione is going to talk to you. You are to listen to what she says, and answer honestly. You need to say the complete truth." Harry instructed.

"Kreacher, what happened to Regulus?" Hermione asked. Kreacher began to tear up.

"Master went on a mission. Master didn't do it right, didn't want to. Master's friends kill him." He sniffled. Hermione was silent for a while.

"Did Regulus ever have any sort of jewelry, near the end of his life."

"What would master do with jewelry, you are such a silly filthy--"

"KREACHER!" Harry yelled. "Answer the question."

"No. Master has no jewelry, master worried about his own life, not some meaningless jewelry."

"How do you know, the Regulus died by his friends."

"I…I…"

"Kreacher answer the question."

"I sees it. I sees what his friends did."

"Who killed him?"

"Sir Malfoy."

"Kreacher can leave now if he wants." Hermione said. Harry ordered him back to the kitchen at Hogwarts. "It can't be here Harry. If Voldemort had him killed, he would have searched for the necklace. This place wouldn't be empty. And it doesn't even make sense that Regulus would have been killed." She finished.

"But it makes perfect sense Hermione." Ron said.

"It made perfect sense. It no longer does. Voldemort wouldn't have needed to kill him. And If he had needed to kill him, he would be searching this place from morning till night until he had his Horcrux, which we know he didn't do."

Harry knew she was right. But couldn't help feeling depressed. They were back to ground zero, with nothing to go on. They linked arms, Hermione must have thought of the word Lemon drop again, as he felt the apparation like feeling begin.


	7. I'll Follow the Sun

Harry, Hermione and Ron all looked at each other. They had rushed out of the Burrow to come to Hogwarts, to go to Grimmauld Place, only to find that there was nothing important there. They had no idea who R.A.B. was. They had no idea where any other Horcrux might be (well, with exception of the hunch that one or two might be in the castle.) For a moment, they stared at each other. Deciding he must take the lead, Harry spoke up.

"Hermione, I think it would be a good idea for you to research how to destroy Horcruxes." Harry said. Hermione nodded. This seemed obvious, but something that would probably prove harder to find.

"Ron, you and I need to go over everything Dumbledore told me. We need to see if we can figure out what and where some of these Horcruxes may be." Ron agreed. Harry had expected Hermione to run off to the library the second he suggested it, but she had stayed for a moment.

"Harry, I got to talking to Fred and George. And I was just thinking, transportation wise, in case we couldn't ever use the ring for whatever reason. They retrieved your broom, and made one for me and Ron. But, you know I hate them, so I had them make this." She opened her necklace and pulled out a carpet. Ron gasped.

"Those are illegal."

"Ron, Voldemort's in control of the government. I get the feeling hunting his Horcruxes are illegal too." Harry laughed. Hermione was too much sometimes. "I just thought you should know I have this stuff. I hadn't gotten a chance to tell you." He watched her gently fold the carpet back up, and place it in her necklace. She crisply walked out of the door, and headed towards the library.

Harry suggested to Ron that they write down every clue Dumbledore had ever given them, and anything they had figured out. Harry was disappointed when he noticed that the clues barely took up a page. He felt brain dead and Ron seemed quiet as well.

"There has to be at least one in Hogwarts." Ron said. "It all fits; he would have wanted a part of his soul in here."

"Well, the Horcruxes are the snake, the locket, the ring, the cup, the diary, and something of Gryffindor or Ravenclaw's. Obviously the Snake isn't in here, the diary and the locket aren't either. The ring and the diary were destroyed-"

"And neither of them was placed in Hogwarts."

"Which means, either the cup or something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's is in Hogwarts?"

"Well that's our guess. I mean, would he have risked putting something like that in here. What if a student got a hold of it and gave it to Dumbledore? Or what if Dumbledore himself had found it?" Harry questioned. Ron paused.

"But Dumbledore must have questioned it. Otherwise why tell you how Voldemort felt about Hogwarts?"

"But why would he go looking in a cave when he could look at Hogwarts?"

"Maybe he wanted you to have the less dangerous work?"

"But wouldn't it be better if I had less work?" Ron laughed.

"It's not worth trying to pick at Dumbledore's brain. We'll never get any answers that way. WAIT!" Ron yelled. He jumped up and started leaving the room. "COME ON! HURRY"

"Okay Hermione." Harry muttered. "You know, for someone who doesn't like it when Hermione does this-"

"Dumbledore's portrait Harry! Why didn't we think of this before? We can talk to it. Maybe it'll answer some questions for us." Realizing Ron was right; Harry began to run towards the Head Masters office. They ran through the halls, and by the time they reached it, were quite out of breath. Harry then realized they needed the password.

"What do you suppose it is? I mean, how are we going to guess what McGonagall would pick?" Ron asked. He seemed less excited. There was always a halt in whatever plan the trio had.

"Well, Dumbledore would have been easy enough to guess. It would have been like 'chocolate frogs' or something like that." With the phrase "chocolate frogs," the door opened and the staircase began to spin down.

"What is it with these professors?" Asked Ron.

"I think this was for Dumbledore." Harry said.

"I think this was for us." Ron said. This made more sense. McGonagall would want the trio to have full access too all parts of the school.

They walked up the stairs and knocked on the door. There was no response so Harry turned the knob. Dumbledore's picture was the first thing Harry saw, and it was smiling at him.

"I expected you two. Well, I expected Hermione too…" Dumbledore's portrait said.

"She's in the library." Ron said. Talking to a portrait of a person Harry and Ron knew, seemed less weird to Ron than it did Harry. "We wanted to know," Ron continued, "do you think a Horcrux is in Hogwarts?"

"I do not think Voldemort put one in Hogwarts." Dumbledore said. Harry noticed how even his portrait maintained the twinkle in his eye.

"Dumbledore, do you have any idea where they might be?" Harry asked.

"Not a clue. But I would suggest taking the sword." Dumbledore's portrait said. It winked at Harry, and Ron grabbed the Sword, which was hanging on the wall in McGonagall's office. Harry stuck the sword in his locket.

"I suppose we'll come to see you if we have any other questions." Harry said. Him and Harry turned and left.

"Bloody helpful he was." Ron said. As they walked down the halls to the Head Boy's dormitory.

They came back to the living room of the suite and found Hermione, buried in a stack of books.

"I didn't want to be alone." She murmured. Harry had the suspicion she just wanted to make sure Harry was safe, and he smiled to himself.

After researching for a few weeks, it was actually Ron who discovered the ways in which to destroy a Horcrux. His method of randomly pulling books off of a shelf had actually worked. Hermione had said it was bound to eventually but Harry could tell she was irritated all the same. Hermione read it out loud:

"_Horcrux must suffer damage so severe that repair through magical means would be impossible. Once a Horcrux is irreparably damaged, the fragment of soul within it is destroyed."_

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Ron asked.

"Well, I'd assume the basilisk fang would work. Seeing as that's what destroyed the Diary. The killing curse would probably work as well. Fiendfyre would be another possibility, but that's so dark." Hermione said.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Fiendfyre is an extremely powerful cursed fire, the flames of which take the shape of fantastic creatures that pursue those caught in its path. It's typically only used by Dark wizards though." She said.

"Hermione, I think you should learn how to do it. It's complicated I'm sure, which Harry and I wouldn't be too good at. But we need as many ways to destroy Horcruxes as we can get." Ron said. Hermione clasped her hands to her mouth.

"Harry, the sword! It's Goblin made."

"So." Harry was extremely confused and felt sort of useless in the situation.

"Oh wow, I didn't even think of that. Harry, it probably has Basilisk venom in it. Goblin made objects absorb anything that makes it stronger." Ron said.

"So that's why Dumbledore's portrait wanted us to have it." Harry said.

This day had been a good one. They had moved forward in their mission after being stuck so long. Hermione had used the Room of Requirement from that day forward to learn how to create Fiendfyre. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron began to ponder who R.A.B. could possibly be, and where the Horcruxes were.

Two weeks before Hogwarts began; Hermione had fully mastered Fiendfyre, and had joined Harry and Ron in their discussions.

"So go over it again Harry." She said.

"Well, there's the cup."

"Which Harry wasn't given a hint for." Ron finished.

"The snake-"

"And it is with Voldemort."

"The locket-"

"Which whoever R.A.B. was had, now who knows."

"And then something of Gryffindor's or Ravenclaw's that isn't the sword."

"This was a particularly helpful clue from Dumbledore." Ron finished again. Harry sniggered at the comment, but felt sorrow fill his heart as he was reminded once again that Dumbledore was gone. "Harry, do you have any of that candy left?" Ron asked. Harry had put it in his trunk, which was in his locket. Ron helped him pull it out, and immediately began digging through the trunk for the candy. He found something much different.

"Harry, what are these?" Ron asked. He had found the letters written too him. "Harry, this is from Dumbledore. Have you read it?"

"No." Harry said sheepishly. Hermione looked up from her books, and glared at him.

"HARRY! You need too. What if something important is in there?" She said. Harry knew she was right, but really didn't want to cry in front of his friends. Ron, surprisingly, seemed to understand. And opened the letter, and read it himself.

_Dear Harry,_

_I expect, when you read this, I will be dead. It is important that you understand what I am about to say to you. And keep it to yourself, Hermione and Ron._

_I suspect that there is another problem with the Horcruxes. You see, those Horcruxes which belong to the Hogwarts founders, must be destroyed by their heirs._

_The ring, belonged too Slytherin, and it is slowly killing me, as I wrongfully destroyed it. _

_Unfortunately, I can not tell you who the heirs are. You will be happy to know, however, that Voldemort is no longer the Heir of Slytherin,.He technically died, moving the line down to the next person in the bloodline and merit. You see, I have only figured out this problem upon destroying the ring, so I am not equipped to provide information for you. I do have full confidence, that you will figure this out for yourselves. And be successful in your Horcrux hunt._

_I know it must feel like I'm sending you on a wild goose chase Harry. However, what must be done must be done. I've done what I can, and I'm no longer here._

_Good luck._

_Your's truly,_

_Albus Dumbledore._

"Oh this man is beyond helpful." Ron said sarcastically. Harry chuckled, and Hermione tried not to laugh.

"Well, I know the way the Hogwarts line works, is through the youngest child. I always found that strange." Hermione said. "So I suppose, all we need to do is figure out the family."

"What about in Voldemort's case. The line died."

"Well, it goes back to the youngest living relative. Many people are related to Slytherin, in the wizarding World. So the youngest person, after a line has died, with a Hogwarts Founder's blood in them, continues the line. So all we have to do is find the family."

"That'll be easy." Ron said, his sarcasm showing once again. He was clearly not amused. Hermione still looked deep in thought however.

"I swear I've seen a map of the bloodline of the Hogwarts founders, I just can't recall where it was.


	8. Devil In Her Heart

A great serpent slithered across cold stone towards his masters chair, he always comes when called. His master's thin white fingers stroked his head tenderly.

"But it doesn't make any sense, why not just kill them all. Let me kill them all. And why are we still keeping her around, I don't need her."

"Bella, is Harry potter with them?" Voldemort mockingly questioned her. "No, but they have no idea where he is going, and he's much weaker without them. And you still haven't answered me about the girl? There is no point too-"

"Are you questioning the Dark Lord?" He raised his voice, and Bella seemed to make herself smaller from were she was kneeling on the floor.

"But Master, she simply stays captive, we've made no use of her. In fact she's being treated quite well."

"I suppose, she can be Draco's responsibility." He said, snickering. "You know I do not like to be questioned Bellatrix." He said gently, cupping her face. His tenderness was a game, and soon Bella would be punished for doubting him. A tall blonde teenager, with a pointed nose stood in the back of the room watching the strange scene between his Aunt and The Dark Lord.

"Just what am I supposed to do with the little--"

"Anything you like Draco. She stays alive, and she stays inside the manor. But perhaps she might be a good tool for practicing a few curses." Voldemort ordered.

"Thank you master." Draco muttered.

"The Dark Lord always rewards those who are loyal, and those who do well. Consider this your reward for trapping Albus Dumbledore." Voldemort answered.

"Bella my darling, I suppose we have no more use for them. You have my permission to kill."


	9. In Spite of All The Danger

Harry Hermione and Ron mutually decided that they were not going to be attending classes, but rather, investigate the school while classes were going on. That way, they wouldn't be caught. McGonagall figured this plan out by the second day, but begrudgingly let them continue.

Things seemed to be quiet in the Wizarding World. Voldemort and the Death eaters had not attacked anyone, and although the ministry was clearly under his control, nothing alarming had happened. They kept up to date on the news through the newspapers that Hermione still had delivered to her.

There was, of course, a negative side to keeping a low profile. The trio had not seen Neville, Luna, or Ginny (well, at the moment, they really weren't upset about not seeing Ginny) since they arrived at school. And in fact, the only other student they had come in contact with was none other than Draco Malfoy.

Draco still looked pale and weak. His arrogance had escaped him. Draco had ran right into Hermione while hurrying to class. He hadn't noticed who he ran into until he had picked up his books and looked up. He had stared at the trio for a moment before muttering an apology to Hermione and running off to class. This was such an atypical reaction from Malfoy that Ron was left in shock with his mouth gaping open for at least a full minute.

"I don't think he likes being a death eater." Harry said, after Draco was out of earshot. "I never told you, he couldn't kill Dumbledore."

"Well, of course he couldn't kill Dumbledore-" Hermione started.

"No, I mean, he couldn't do it. Dumbledore was there, without a wand. Draco was about to join our side when Snape ran up the stairs and killed Dumbledore. And apparently, Draco's father is not in good graces with Voldemort any longer."

"He's a nasty little git, but it's good to see he's not a killer." Ron said. And they continued to look through the school, checking every empty room they could think of, every room on the map. Ron had even tried wishing for the Horcruxes in the Room of Requirement, but that hadn't worked either. And it hadn't helped that Hermione and Ron had bickered the entire time about how messing with the Room of Requirement was a waste of time. Harry had silently agreed with Hermione, but had decided to stay out of it.

The next morning, they went down to breakfast with the rest of the school. (instead of just asking Dobby for food when they needed it) Hermione noticed that Ginny was suspiciously absent. Ron shrugged it off, figuring that she had "charmed a new wizard." Hermione didn't seem so convinced.

Ron had seemed particularly offended by Ginny's potion tactics. Harry figured that it might have something to do with the events of last year (particularly since Harry heard Ron muttering about how "Ginny could have killed someone.") but the grudge Ron seemed to hold over Ginny shocked Harry.

"There is something not right about her." Ron had said, after Harry told him that he wasn't holding it against Ginny any longer. Hermione mentioned that Ginny was just acting like a child with a schoolgirl crush.

"It's not like you were going around trying to dose Lockhart with love potion."

"Oh come on, I wouldn't have had to try hard. He's so daft I could have given him chocolates and he would have taken them…Oh I mean, well, you're different Ron. Who would try and dose you. Not that you aren't attractive, just that, Lockhart has lots of girls after him-"

"Just keep digging that hole Hermione." Harry said, cutting her off before she and Ron stopped talking to each other. Hermione and Ron laughed, to Harry's relief, but he noticed Ron's face went serious again, quickly after.

"I just…she's changed." He said, more to himself than to Harry and Hermione. Hermione looked at Harry and shrugged. He knew what she meant. Ron needed time to get over Ginny's immature betrayal. Harry questioned whether Ron felt that he indirectly betrayed Harry, because of his sister's actions. But Harry had made his decision. He didn't know how much time he had, and it was best not to be upset with people he cared about, and people who cared about him. Ginny didn't mean any harm by it. Although he still preferred he had some space from her, as being around her would be awkward.

Hermione on the other hand, once again developed a distaste for the Daily Prophet. The newspaper, she figured, was now under Voldemort's control. The snide remarks once reserved for Dumbledore and Harry, were now directed towards those who are not pureblood and blood traitors (which of course included "the boy who barely survived").

"This is useless." Hermione muttered, as she flipped through the Prophet that morning. "There's not going to be any information about deaths, because Voldemort will want to cover it up." She finished. She however, became incredibly interested in an article and didn't speak the rest of breakfast. Harry and Ron had a nice conversation about Quidditch which soon returned to the Horcrux hunt. Typically Hermione would chastise them for talking about it in public, but she just passed a few furtive looks Ron's way and continued to read the paper.

Hermione acted funny the whole morning, a few times Harry thought she was going to cry. He had asked her what was wrong and she had muttered that she was fine and continued to flip pages through her book, without actually reading it. Ron said that Hermione was just acting like a girl again.

Right before they were going to go to lunch, Professor McGonagall walked straight into the Common room and asked Harry Ron and Hermione to sit down. Hermione sat on the arm of Harry's chair, hugging one knee to her chest and looking away. Ron sat down on the couch in confusion and Professor McGonagall conjured up a chair, and sat in front of them.

"Well, you know, there are major risks in this war. Risks that all of us, in the Order, have had to take. We all joined, knowing that the worst could happen." McGonagall said. She looked as if she had stayed up crying all night.

"There has been an attack on the Burrow." Time stood still. _Impossible. _How could that happen? The Burrow was protected. "There are.." McGonagall started to say, as she sniffled and quickly held back her tears. "a few deaths you should be aware of. She took a deep breath.

"Charlie Weasley, Percy Weasley, Professor Moody, Arthur Weasley, and Molly Weasley." Hermione let out a sob, but Ron stared into space, clearly in shock. "Percy had, um, come to join the Order and reconcile with the family." McGonagall said softly. There seemed to be a pit in Harry's stomach. The Weasley's were just as good as family to him. In fact, he considered did them family, and once again, family was taken from him. Who could possibly murder that many in the Burrow without someone stopping them. "And Ginny Weasley, is missing." McGonagall finished.

"Wait, she should be at school." Hermione said, shocked.

"The Weasley's felt as if it would be safer to keep her home."

"What do you mean by missing?" Harry asked.

"We don't know if she has died or not. But her body, has not been found." McGonagall said. She sniffled into her handkerchief.

"Mr. Weasley, Ronald, do you need anything." Ron shook his head, but he still wore a glazed over expression. "All right then, I'll be in Dumbledore's office, my office, if you need me." She said, and she gracefully exited the room.

Hermione put her hand on Ron's back, and rubbed it gently.

"Hermione, you knew, didn't you?"

"I….well no, I mean, I knew members of the Order had been attacked, according to the Newspaper." She said softly. She continued to rub his back.

"My whole family…my whole family.." He muttered to himself. A moment later, McGonagall entered the room again, this time she had the Twins and Bill and Fleur with her, she bowed her head and left again.

What happened next, surprised Harry (and surprised Hermione even more). Fleur ran towards Ron with her arms spread wide.

"Oh, de pour boy." She said, as she embraced him and rocked back and forth. It suddenly dawned on Harry that Fleur was now the mother figure in the Weasley Household, and he felt hot tears threatening to fall down his face. Ron, he noticed, was quietly sobbing in Fleur's arms.

The Weasley family, Hermione and Harry sat in the common room for what seemed like hours. Tears streamed down all of their faces, their noses were red and sore.

Fred and George had decided to close their shop for the time being, and stay with Bill and Fleur.

"How did it happen? It shouldn't have.."

"Someone must have told-" Hermione said. "The Charm is fool proof, but someone betrayed the Order."

"But who?" Everyone stayed silent at the question. No one capable of answering the question, or no one wanting too.


	10. While My Guitar Gently Weeps

What was left of the Weasley Clan had decided to hold the funeral at Bill and Fleur's home in three days. They hugged each other goodbye and headed off to Fleur and Bill's house. They had decided to not give Ginny a funeral, praying that there was a bit of hope that she as still alive.

Ron hadn't said anything when Bill, Fleur, Fred and George were talking about Ginny. Harry figured he had felt a bit guilty. After all, Ron had been angry with her, for perhaps the final weeks of her life. When he whispered this to Hermione, she looked at him like he was foolish. "Ron thinks--" she had started to whisper back to him, until Ron had looked over. At that point Harry knew he'd have to wait to finish the rest of their conversation. After the rest of Weasley's left the common room, Harry didn't have to wait long to find out what Ron thought.

"Ginny did it." He stated, solemnly.

"Ron, that's crazy." Harry said, defending her.

"It had to be an insider, and no one would have attacked Ginny. She's the only person who could have killed the whole House and no one would have tried to attack her back. She probably did it one by one, all of them in different rooms. And her body is nowhere to be found. Let's be honest, it's not like a Death Eater would want Ginny's body, or that they'd have any use for her if we all thought she was dead."

"But Ron, the Order, someone would have stopped her, someone would have been suspicious. Look how many people were suspicious of Snape." Harry said.

"Not if she killed them all separately Harry. And it's Ginny. Snape had been a Death Eater. Everyone underestimated Ginny. Look, I need to be alone for a while." Said Ron. He left the room, aimlessly. Harry and Hermione watched him go, unable to do anything to console their friend.

"Not everyone. Lupin and Mad Eye suspected Ginny." Hermione said quietly.

"So you agree with him." Harry had expected Hermione to back him up, to say that Ron was trying to justify his previous anger towards Ginny.

"I think it's a very real possibility." she said.

"I wish he would talk to me. I know what it's like to lose people-" Harry said.

"You don't know what it's like to believe your own sister killed half of your family. And when people you love died, did you feel like anyone would understand?" Hermione said. Harry nodding, perhaps understanding more than anyone what Ron was going through.

Hermione stood up, off of the arm of Harry's chair. Harry stood up next to her. He smiled to himself as he remembered the days when she used to tower over him and now she barely reached his shoulder.

"Well, I suppose we should do some more research. The faster this is all over the better." She said, yawning.

"What about Ron."

"I think he needs to be alone for the time being." Hermione hugged Harry, a little harder than she normally does. "Are you all right."

"I feel like, I need to be strong for Ron." As he said this, Harry's eyes began to water. The closet thing Harry had ever had to a mother, was now gone. But he continued to hug Hermione, until he could compose himself.

She kissed his cheek, his face tear stained as well. And then she headed towards her books. Harry joined her, seeing as there was nothing else he really could do.

He was running towards Hermione. She was screaming, she needed him, but Harry could not move. Ron's voice was yelling behind him. Telling him not to go.

"Harry potter sir. Harry Potter. I has your breakfast. Where is your Weezy Harry Potter?" Harry opened his eyes. He had fallen asleep next to Hermione, both of their heads lying in their books.

"Thanks Dobby. Ron's not back yet?"

"He isn't here." Dobby said. "Dobby has to get back to the kitchen, sir. May I?" He asked.

"Dobby, you don't need my permission for anything." Harry said, smiling and shaking his head. He imagined Hermione's face if she had heard Dobby asking for permission to go back to work.

It concerned Harry that Ron wasn't back yet. He decided it was best to wake Hermione up, and then go look for him. He gently rubbed her back and whispered her name. He was a bit afraid Hermione might attack him if she was jolted awake, so he decided that gentle was the best way to do things.

They got up and searched all of the places in Hogwarts Ron might be. They checked the Gryffindor common room, Hagrid's hut, the Bathrooms (even Moaning Murtle's, unfortunately, Moaning Murtle was there and Ron wasn't.) They even tried the Room of Requirement. (Despite Hermione telling him, once again, that it would not work even if Ron was in there.) Finally, despite not being able to find out the answer to where Ron was in a book, Hermione wanted to go to the Library to think.

When they walked into the Library, Hermione headed towards her normal spot. However, they both heard a whimper and looked down one of the book aisles. There was Ron. He was sitting with Luna. He looked like he had been crying, and hadn't slept the whole night. She was holding his hand and playing with his hair, his head was resting on her shoulder. They were whispering too each other.

Hermione looked at Harry, unsure of whether it was right to interrupt Ron and Luna. They both tip-toed down the aisle.

"Ron." Harry said softly.

"I…sorry…I must have had you both worried." Ron muttered. He seemed somewhat ashamed of himself. Hermione sat on the other side of Ron.

"We're here for you. Just like you and I are here for Harry. Okay." Hermione said.

"It's hard to lose a family member." Luna said in her airy voice.

"How did your mother die, exactly?" Harry asked.

"She died while making a potion. The strange thing was she had made the potion many times before. I think she must have been excited, and made it incorrectly. You see, my father had bought her a special wand from Oliver."

"What was so special about it?" Hermione asked. She turned her full attention from Ron to Luna.

"Oh, it was Ravenclaw's wand."

Harry and Hermione looked at each other.

"Luna, I think we are going to need your help." Hermione said. Ron looked up, a new determination on his face. It had become apparent to Ron as well, the trio had found their first Horcrux.


	11. With A Little Help From My Friends

"Luna, we are going to need your help. We need that wand." Ron said. Luna seemed a bit taken back by the seemingly heartless remark, even for Ron. "We can't explain to you why, Luna. But it's important, for destroying Voldemort." He finished. Luna nodded.

"It's at home, though." She said.

"That's not a problem. We can get there and back without anyone knowing we are gone." Harry said. "Please trust us Luna."

"All right, when should we leave?" Luna was brave, and she wasn't hesitant despite not knowing what was going on.

"We can leave now." Harry said. He noticed Hermione looked odd. She seemed to be staring into space, or directly at a book. "Hermione, you've been quiet."

"I…you three go, I need to check something. I'm such an idiot, really."

"What! Hermione, you're joking." "It's important Harry. Be safe." She ran out of the library. Harry sat in awestruck. He didn't like the idea of doing any part of his mission without Hermione.

"Harry, I think Luna deserves to know. She should know what killed her mother."

"I know how she-" Luna started, but Harry interrupted her.

"Dumbledore wanted us to keep it a secret."

"But Dumbledore didn't know the circumstance. And Luna is loyal too us. She's always been. Harry, how would you feel, if someone knew something that you didn't about your parents deaths. I know how I feel. I want to know."

"But guys, I kno-"

"You're right Ron."

"It wasn't an accident. Well it was but it wasn't. You see, Voldemort wants to be immortal." Ron started.

"And there are these things called Horcruxes. It's extremely dark magic. And basically, when Voldemort kills someone, he traps a bit of his soul into a special object."

"And we can't get rid of him, until the objects are destroyed."

"And the wand is a Horcrux?" Luna asked. Harry and Ron nodded. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" Harry and Ron looked at each other, now was as good of a time as any considering Hermione had told them to go.

They went back to the Head Boy and Girl common room. Harry had been expecting Hermione to be in there, buried in her books. Surprisingly, she wasn't. Harry began to feel a bit worried, he hoped she was okay.

"Where are we going Luna?" Harry asked.

"My room." She said. Although she couldn't possibly know how they were transporting, she didn't seem concerned at all. Ron grabbed the ring, and before long the sensation that they were apparating came over them.

Luna's room was just how Harry had pictured it. It seemed like he had stepped into a dream. Her bed was a canopy and had a circular shape. She had silver pillows. The whole room itself seemed to sparkle. Foam stars, painted silver, were enchanted to hang from the ceiling. A mirage of a unicorn covered one wall. Despite living in the wizarding world for seven years, it took Harry by surprise when the unicorn started moving.

"Wow, this is amazing." Ron whispered in awestruck.

"Thank you. That was very nice to say Ronald." Luna said. She smiled at him. Ron blushed and smiled back. She started to shift through her drawers. Her bureau was also circular; Harry wondered how it didn't roll. She took out an old shoe box and began to shift through it. Harry had a horrible suspicion that this shoe box was all Luna had left of her mother. Ron apparently had the same suspicion because he sat down next to her and put his arm around her shoulder as she shifted through it.

"We really appreciate this Luna." He whispered. She found the wand at that moment, and surprised Harry with her next action.

"It's no trouble at all Ronald." She smiled and kissed his cheek. Ron blushed again and smiled. Harry had a horrible feeling. Would Ron date someone else and hurt Hermione again? He'd have to talk to Ron; they can't be fighting while they are hunting Horcruxes. He wondered how Ron could possibly be so stupid.

Ron put the wand in his necklace and grabbed Luna's hand.

"Ready Harry?" He asked. Harry nodded and grabbed Ron's hand. The familiar squeezing sensation began and soon they were back in their common room.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure she's fine Harry." Ron said, Harry noticed that Ron was still holding Luna's hand. They sat next to each other on the couch, and Ron put the wand on the coffee table.

"How do you destroy it?" She asked. Harry looked at Ron; he didn't know how much they should explain to Luna. Ron seemed to believe honesty was best.

"Well, there are certain ways to destroy Horcruxes; Hermione knows more than we do. And certain Horcruxes need to be destroyed by certain people."

"Luna, do you know who the Heirs of Hogwarts are?"

"No, I'm afraid I do not." She whispered. She picked up Ravenclaw's wand and began to examine it. How odd it was, to finally discover the source of all of his pain, when he was eleven. It was the most important moment in his life, discovering what or who killed his parents. Harry felt better about his decision to tell Luna, she deserved to know.

Harry noticed _Hogwarts a History_ tossed on the ground. How stupid of them, of course Hogwarts a History would have some sort of trace of the bloodline. But then where was Hermione? Harry reached for the book, and began flipping through the pages. And sure enough, Harry found a map of the bloodline of the Hogwarts founders.

Harry was too stunned to say anything. He checked Slytherin first, knowing that person would be hardest to convince. He traced the line down the Hogwarts Heir was…Lucius Malfoy.

"Oh no." Harry said.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Hermione found a book of the heirs. _Hogwarts a History_, she must have been kicking herself."

"That's amazing, well, who are the Heirs?"

"Well that's the problem. Lucius Malfoy is the Slytherin Heir. That's a relief though; I thought it was going to be Voldemort."

"Why isn't it you know who?" Ron asked.

"Maybe when he tried to kill me, that counted as dying for him. I don't know really, magic is weird." Harry said.

"Well, who are the other ones?" Luna asked.

"Hufflepuff…Neville. Neville's the heir!"

"Oh that'll be easy enough, he's sure to help us." Ron said.

Harry looked at Ravenclaw next…Rosalind Bonham. Harry looked at the picture. She looked familiar. She was beautiful, with brown eyes and beautiful chestnut curls.

"It says her name is Rosalind Bonham." Harry said.

"Why is she way up in the tree?" Luna asked. She was right; Ravenclaw's tree was much smaller than the other four founders.

"I don't know. We'll just have to find her. Maybe Hermione will know." Ron said. "Who is the heir to Gryffindor?" He asked.

"It's…Dumbledore."

"That can't be right, he's dead, and he's the oldest." Ron said.

"Maybe he has a different father than his siblings." Harry said. "Not that it matters, even if he was the heir, he no longer is. There's something wrong with the timeline." Just as Harry finished, Hermione barged in the door.

"Harry! Ron! You have to see this, come on!" She yelled. Harry, Ron and Luna all stood up, and followed Hermione as she paced quickly through the halls. "I found the Heirs. I was so upset with myself, because there's a family tree of all of the founders in Hogwarts a History. Only I forgot that it's outdated." Hermione started.

"We know Hermione, we saw it."

"Well, obviously Dumbledore is no longer the heir then, so I decided to try the room of Requirement. And it's so wonderful…because it means…oh you'll never believe it…" Hermione didn't have time to finish her thought because they had reached the door to the Room of Requirement. She paced three times across the door and then opened it.

Inside the room was a massive family tree of all the founders. Unfortunately, Harry noted, Lucius Malfoy was indeed the Heir of Slytherin. He took a quick glance at Gryffindor though, but Ron noticed before Harry did.

"Ginny…she's still alive then." He said. There didn't seem to be any emotion in his words.

"Oh, isn't it wonderful Ron. Maybe she just escaped…"

"Or maybe she did it, and maybe she's a death eater now." He said. Hermione, sensing this wouldn't go well, began to point to Ravenclaw's tree, before finally noticing Luna.

"What's she doing here?" Hermione asked.

"Hermione, we told her everything. We thought she should-" Hermione looked furious, but didn't say anything for a moment.

"Luna, would you excuse us. I'm sure we'll talk to you later." Hermione snapped.

"Oh, it's quite all right. I understand if you do not trust me." Luna said. She smiled and left before Hermione could respond.

"WHAT WERE YOU TWO THINKING? YOU ALREADY DON'T TRUST YOUR SISTER, AND FELT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO JUST TALK ABOUT THIS IN THE LIBRARY. WHAT IF SOMEONE ELSE HEARD? ARE YOU CRAZY?" Hermione seemed to finish yelling, but still looked furious.

"Hermione, that wand killed her mother. Voldemort killed her mother."

"I understand you are emotionally involved Ronald, but Dumbledore told us not to tell anyone."

"Dumbledore's dead, and to be honest, he didn't do that great of a job with helping us in this mess. He just put it all on Harry's shoulder." Ron said, he was starting to get angry himself.

"Look, we aren't going to tell anyone else, no matter the circumstance, okay." Harry said. He was hoping for a truce between Hermione and Ron, and he didn't seem to get one. Harry had the suspicion that _telling Luna _was the issue, rather than telling anyone in particular. Ron apparently hadn't learned, from sixth year. "Anyway, what were you saying about Ravenclaw."

"Oh yea." Hermione continued. "Ravenclaw's timeline is stopped. Rosalind Bonham only daughter was a squib, and because of the discrimination against Muggles, apparently, the tree neglected to continue." Hermione said, Harry could tell she was frustrated. He looked at Ron. Ron was staring at the picture the same way Harry had. It was like he had seen the woman somewhere.

"So Ravenclaw's heir is a muggle?" Harry asked.

"I don't know, but it seems likely."

"So basically, we now have a Horcrux, but are incapable of destroying the Horcrux because now we have to go on a wild goose chase for the fourth heir. And the likelihood of Slytherin's heir destroying a Horcrux…zero to none. Well, I for one am glad to see how far we are getting." Ron said, bitterly. Hermione and Harry laughed; the truth was so scary it was funny.

"Well, we need to regroup, figure out a plan, and continue." Hermione stated after a few moments of silence. "Where's the Horcrux?" She asked.

"On the coffee table." Hermione looked like she might scream again, but Harry was glad she decided against it.

"Let's just keep it with us at all times." She said quietly.

They headed back to their common room silently. In truth, Harry didn't have the slightest idea as to what they should do next. He didn't know where they could possibly look for the Heir of Ravenclaw, and honestly, they had stumbled upon the Horcrux in blind luck. Although, they at least had some clues for where the Horcruxes might possibly be.

Harry had been so lost in thought; he didn't realize they had arrived at the door to their common room. They entered, and Hermione sat on the arm of the chair Harry usually sat in. Ron sat down on the couch and Harry sat next to him. Hermione still looked disgruntled over the events of earlier that day.

"I think we need to tell Neville." She said.

"I thought we needed to keep it quiet?" Ron snapped.

"Well, what are we going to do, we need him Ron. And we've already told Luna -sorry, you told Luna-"

"Harry did too!"

"Never mind that, the point is, Neville is needed, and we can trust him. He'll most likely be at the funeral tomorrow, we can talk to him then." Those words stung Harry. He had almost forgotten that there would be a funeral, that half the Weasley family had died. He saw Ron nod his head in agreement, and Harry agreed to it as well.

"What are we going to do about Ginny?" Ron asked.

"We have to find her, Ron. Maybe she didn't do it, maybe she escaped." Harry said. Ron didn't seem to believe it. "Besides, if she's a death eater then that's only half of our problem. As far as we know, Voldemort didn't get anything of Gryffindor's. The locket is Slytherin's and we will need Lucius Malfoy to destroy it, once we find it." Harry said.

"We'll have to use the Imperious curse." Hermione said "So go through the list again Harry, what do we know?"

"We have to destroy the Cup, the snake, and the locket." He said. "The Cup is Hufflepuff's and the Locket is Slytherin's."

"That only makes six?" Ron said, as he counted them up.

"We've been through this Ronald; the seventh piece of Voldemort's soul is inside him. Continue Harry."

"The Heirs are Ginny, Neville, Lucius Malfoy and unknown." Harry continued. "We know the snake is with Voldemort. We know R.A.B. had the locket, although we don't know who R.A.B. is. We also have no idea where the cup might be." Harry finished, Ron looked as if he had a headache, and Hermione looked deep in thought.

"I think we need to figure out R.A.B. next. And we should also start brainstorming, over where things could be hidden." Hermione said. Ron and Harry agreed again. "We should go to bed." She said briskly. She kissed Harry and Ron on the cheek, as she headed to her room.

Harry and Ron went to their room. They changed and climbed into bed.

When he finally got a chance to relax, Harry thought about the upcoming day. He would be saying goodbye to the closest thing to parents Harry had ever had. He wiped his eyes, wishing it had all been a dream.


	12. Let It Be

_When I find myself in times of trouble_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_And in my hour of darkness_

_She is standing right in front of me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be._

_Whisper words of wisdom, let it be._

Harry woke up early the morning of the funeral. He looked over at Ron's bed. Ron was still sleeping. His face pale and sweaty, Harry had the suspicion that Ron hadn't been able to sleep during the night, so He tried his best not to wake Ron this early. Despite losing his parents, He couldn't relate to Ron on this day. He didn't understand how it felt to burry a parent. He wasn't sure whether it was closure, or whether it reopens the wound.

Knowing full well that he would not be falling back to sleep, Harry got up and rummaged through his trunk for something to wear. The first item he saw was a knitted green sweater that _matched his eyes so perfectly. _Harry carefully folded the sweater and placed it back in his trunk as he wiped away a stray tear. Having nothing else to do but wait, he dressed himself in his black robes, and went into their common room.

Harry noticed a frizzy head perching in the common room. Hermione sat on the comfy chair in her pajamas. Her knees were pulled to her chest. Her eyes red and swollen. Harry's instincts made him rush to her side, he sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulder.

"I'm going to miss them...and Ginny…she couldn't have done it, Harry..she couldn't have." Hermione wept. Logic and reasoning skills had escaped her; she was only listening to her heart. Ginny could have done it, and fact at this point it would seem very likely that she did. But neither Hermione nor Harry (and more than likely Ron) really truly believed she did. "I always knew people could die, and people did die..Sirius and Dumbledore ..but I didn't expect..this many Weasleys." She said, in between gasps and sobs.

Harry and Hermione remained silent for what seemed like hours. Both simply reflecting on how _this_ was possible, wiping away tears, and attempting (and failing) to compose themselves. They knew they needed to be strong for Ron, later in the day

Hermione excused herself to get herself ready, and Harry cleaned himself up. A short while later, Ron came out of their room, ready to go. He didn't say anything, he just paced back and fourth in the common room. Harry watched him, wondering what he could possibly say to comfort Ron.

"We'll get 'em Ron. We'll get them for killing my parents, Dumbledore, Sirius, your parents, driving Neville's parent's into insanity. We'll end this." Harry said firmly. Ron looked up.

"Promise?" He asked weakly. Harry nodded.

The rest of the Weasleys had agreed that the late Weasleys, and other Order members, should be buried at the Burrow. Fred and George had formed a new line of protection on the House, and assured everyone that it was safe. They didn't have to. Harry would have gone to the Weasleys funeral if it was in the middle of a Death Eater hide out. Neville and Luna were the only other students going to the funeral. They had joined Hermione, Harry, Ron, as well as Hagrid, in their common room. They sat silently, waiting for McGonagall to arrive. Hagrid, had apparently been unable to stay strong for Ron, and was sobbing so hard the couch was soaked. Luna, who was sitting in between Hagrid and Ron, didn't seem to mind.

_And when the broken hearted people_

_Living in the world agree,_

_There will be an answer, let it be._

_For though they may be parted there is_

_Still a chance that they will see_

_There will be an answer, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be. Yeah_

_There will be an answer, let it be._

Upon arriving at the Burrow, Harry noticed the five caskets in the front of the yard. Far fewer chairs were set up for this service than for Dumbledore's. Harry saw that the entire Order was there, as well as Neville's Grandmother.

Ron took his seat in the front row, and Harry, Hermione, Luna and Neville sat in the row behind him. Luna patted Ron's shoulder as she sat down. The slight touch seemed to relax and comfort Ron. Hermione on the other hand seemed tense and tight. She looked over at Ron and sighed. She seemed to be trying her very best to hold back her tears. Harry patted her shoulder, hoping he'd have the same effect on Hermione that Luna had on Ron.

She took out her handkerchief and wiped her eyes. And then leaned back as the Ceremony had started. The Weasleys had decided they wanted Lupin to speak about the Weasley family members who had died. He spoke of their sacrifice, their love for others, the closeness of the Weasley family. All beautiful words that seemed to over simplify the family that Harry loved so much, that he had felt like a member of. As if a few sentences could possibly summarize how wonderful the Weasleys were, and how painful this funeral was to everyone there.

There was no faux to define the sorrow in their hearts. There was the living members of the Weasley family, with the exception of Ginny, lined up beside each Casket. Bill, Ron, Fred, George, and Fleur stood by each of the five caskets, and with a wave of their wands, the caskets shot fireworks up into the air, and were buried.

_And when the night is cloudy,_

_There is still a light that shines on me,_

_Shine on until tomorrow, let it be._

_I wake up to the sound of music_

_Mother Mary comes to me_

_Speaking words of wisdom, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be._

_There will be an answer, let it be._

_Let it be, let it be,_

_Whisper words of wisdom, let it be_

The dinner came after the funeral. Harry didn't feel hungry, but that wasn't of importance. He needed to talk to Neville, and he needed to talk to Ron.

"Neville, we need to talk tonight, it's important. Meet us in our common room after the funeral." Hermione had gotten straight to the point. Neville had agreed without hesitation. Hermione had left Harry the harder job. He had waited until he had a few moments to talk to Ron alone.

"Ron, Bill and Fred and George should know that Ginny's still..before we get too involved with our mission." Harry looked at Ron. His face was red with tears. He also had a silver mark on his cheek, Luna had told him it would make the "bumblebites" go away. Bumblebites cause one's eyes to water. It had made Ron smile.

"What if she did it?"

"What if she didn't?" Luna, who had apparently been listening to the entire conversation, said. Ron had apparently filled Luna in on his sister as well. Luckily for Harry, Luna's words seemed to convince Ron. He took a deep breath and nodded. He got off of his seat and walked towards his brothers, asking to speak to them.

Harry couldn't hear what Ron had said. But what was left of the Weasley clan was ecstatic. Fred lifted Ron off the ground, Fleur started crying as her and Bill embraced, and George stood still with a smile on his face, the first one Harry had seen since the news of the deaths. No one knew what Ginny had done, why she was still alive, where she was, but it was the only positive news on this dark and gloomy day, and the news had given the Weasleys something they desperately needed, hope.


	13. She Loves You

**She Loves You **

Luna, Hermione, Ron and Harry sat in the Head Boy and Girl common room, waiting for Neville to knock at the door. Harry saw Ron casually try and put his arm around Luna, getting his hand tangled in the process. Hermione rolled her eyes and left the room. Harry wasn't sure whether to follow her or not, but she returned with a book before he had a chance to make a decision.

The room was quiet, every once in a while Luna would try to strike up a conversation about buddleblums or something of the sort, Ron would try to answer her, and then the conversation would die. There had been a lot to take in that day. The Weasley's funeral, along with telling yet another person what they were doing. Harry really just wanted to go to sleep, wake up and have everything over with.

"How much should we tell Neville?" Hermione asked, putting her book down.

"I say tell him everything. We know we can trust him, and besides, it's not like Dumbledore's here to get mad at us."

"RON! It's bad enough that we have to tell people anyway, going against his orders. Do you think this is a game? The smallest amount of knowledge other people have, the better it is." Hermione yelled back. Harry thought her reaction was a little too strong for the conversation. But he had the feeling she had wanted to yell at Ron for some time because of Ron's anger towards Ginny and Dumbledore, but Harry suspected it Ron and Luna's budding relationship also frustrated Hermione.

"Why? Why is it so important we listen to Dumbledore."

"This needs to be kept a secret. Voldemort can't know what we are doing."

"And you think Neville or Luna will tell."

"No. I think we put Neville and Luna in danger by telling them the information. And Voldemort doesn't need people to tell him anything, he can just take that knowledge." A long silence followed. Ron clearly hadn't considered the possibility of Voldemort capturing Luna or Neville.

"But what are we going to do. Neville's going to want to know, and we need him?" Harry asked.

"Tell him the risks of knowing, and if he still wants to know, he deserves to know." Luna said, her last sentence being interrupted by a gentle knock at the door. Hermione nodded, agreeing with Luna and she got up to open the door.

Harry remembered that they ought to make sure Neville is actually Neville but Hermione had already thought of that, her wand at the ready she asked him a question that Harry didn't hear. But He knew Neville answered it correctly because he was not blown to bits. He sat down, still a little shaken from Hermione's not-so-gentle truth tactics. Harry took a deep breath, knowing this was going to be a long story.

"So wait, Voldemort's immortal?" Neville asked, confirming what Hermione, Ron and Harry told him.

"Sort of. He can't die unless we destroy the Horcruxes and him." Hermione said, trying to calm Neville down.

"And you need me to destroy one of them?" He asked.

"Yes, only the Hogwarts Heirs can destroy the Founders belongings. That's why Dumbedore's hand was black, it was poison, he wasn't the rightful owner."

"So will you help us?" Ron asked. Neville nodded.

"Can I help you look for them too. You might need help. You know Luna and I are on your side." In all honestly Harry did not want Neville coming along. Harry didn't really want Hermione or Ron there either, but He lost that battle when he was eleven. On the other side, Harry Ron and Hermione were stuck. They didn't know where the cup was, who R.A.B. was and whether the Locket was gone or not, or who the Heir of Ravenclaw is. The trio did have a shrewd idea of where the Snake was, but really didn't want to find it until the end.

"I think that it would be beneficial if you did help Neville. But you have to understand the risks." Hermione said, looking into Neville's eyes, her own seemed to be watered, Harry assumed she must be reflecting on the day for a moment. "But if you, or Luna, want to help, we'll meet you in the old D.A. room tomorrow at six." She said firmly.

Neville said goodbye, leaving to go back to his room. Ron offered to walk Luna back to her room, and with a pang in his heart Harry was reminded of the infamous walks Mr. and Mrs. Weasley used to take when they went to Hogwarts.

Hermione apparently was reminded of that too because she wore a somber expression on her face, and began reading her book again. Harry didn't understand Ron. Hermione was so upset after the whole Lavender fiasco, it was just obvious that she wanted to date Ron. And clearly, Ron liked Hermione. Sure, Harry had never spoken about it with Ron, but Ron couldn't have made it more clear.

Unable to read, Hermione slammed her book shut, quietly said goodnight to Harry, and went to her room. Harry knew she wasn't tired, she was upset. He gently knocked on her door, and Hermione let him in. She looked anxious.

"Look, I'm sorry about.."

"You have nothing to be sorry about Harry, it effects you as much as me, maybe more so." Harry didn't quite understand the comment, but he didn't understand women, ever.

"I know you and Ron..well he's just being stupid Hermione. He'll come around. I know you guys love each other." Harry said. To his surprise, Hermione burst out laughing.

"Oh Harry, that's not why I'm upset. I don't love Ron, well I love Ron. I'm just not in love with Ron. Where did you come up with that?" She asked, through nervous giggles.

"You always fight, and you were so upset with him when he was dating Lavender."

"She was just dreadful... I did think he liked me years ago, but we cleared that up. We're like siblings."

"Oh." Harry seemed to feel a lot better. He assumed he was just glad that Hermione and Ron weren't going to be in a big fight. "But then what's wrong?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Weasley died. Ron's parents died. I've seen Ron's parents in the past few years more then I've seen my own parents. What if they don't make it? Harry, I need to know they are okay. I need to go back, just to make sure." She had begun to cry, Harry quickly tried to comfort her. He embraced her in a tight hug.

"I have to go back." She whispered. She looked up into his eyes, "Oh Harry, please come." Even with her face inches away from his, he could barely hear her. But he nodded.

With a pop, they started their trip. Harry felt incredibly warm, but began to shiver at the same time. . He gripped Hermione closer to him, this squeezing sensation much more pleasant then the one he was used to even if Hermione's eyes were still red from her tears, and Harry had began to sweat from his body's rising temperature. He felt electric pulses flowing throughout his body, his eyes seemed to roll back in his head. And in what seemed like hours, Harry and Hermione finally reached their destination.

"Thank you Harry." She said, smiling for the first time that day.

Harry looked around, he was in Hermione's living room. An old photograph book caught Harry's attention; he picked it up off of the shelf and began to flip through the pages.


	14. Across the Universe

**Across The Universe **

Across the country, a typical suburban neighborhood was having a seemingly typical day. Jude and Eleanor Smith had just bought their new house a month prior to this particular evening. The neighborhood was beautiful, the houses were glamorous, and Mr. and Mrs. Smith had met a majority of their neighbors, all who seemed quite nice. The only exception were the neighbors at the corner of the street. They hadn't introduced themselves. Mr. and Mrs. Smith thought they were a bit unusual too. These neighbors never left their house, no cars ever showed up, but for whatever reason it always seemed like that house had a lot of visitors.

Mr. and Mrs. Smith had a daughter, Lucy. Lucy also felt the neighbors were a bit strange, but, unlike her parents, she had seen two of them in the yard. The neighbors had children. A tall blonde boy with a pointed nose and a very pretty redheaded girl.

Lucy wondered whether the girl was abused. She had spoken a few words with the girl, who seemed to be trying to ask her for help, but her brother would quickly yell for her, and the she would immediately run inside. The girl had mentioned that her room was small and dark, and that she wasn't allowed outside, but sometimes she snuck out anyway. But the boy never hurt her, and in fact she didn't look physically abused at all, so Lucy didn't know whether the girl was just trying to get attention, and Lucy didn't want to create a big fuss. (Although the girl did seem quite a bit friendlier than the rest of her family.) Perhaps the girl was just a bit spoiled, and her brother had gotten the room she wanted. Yes, that must be it. Lucy did wonder why she never saw the girl at school. The girl's brother had left a while ago, Lucy assumed he must be attending a private school. But she knew the girl was still there. She'd see the girl's shadow in a tiny window or occasionally see her walking around outside in her yard. It was now Holiday Break, and the boy had returned to his home.

Lucy found herself captivated by the house. There seemed to be something incredibly mysterious about it, and often times she'd stop and just watch it, waiting for something unusual to happen. But the events of tonight, made her quite positive that she was starting to go insane.

She had been glancing at the House, when she saw the siblings burst out of the door to the manor and onto the yard. They sneaked out of the fenced in area, and onto the street. He grabbed her hand, they spun around and disappeared. Lucy had to blink a few times, thinking it must have been in her imagination.

That thought, however, was quickly put to rest because three people came storming out of the manor. A blonde woman, blonde man, and a brunette. They looked nervous, and began screaming for the two children. Lucy had the feeling that it was best to not help out the parents. After all, what was she to tell them "I saw your son and daughter disappear." They would think she was insane. And her parents would think she is insane, and she'd end up in a madhouse.


	15. Why Don't We Do It In The Road

**Why Don't We Do It In The Road? **

Earlier that evening that small room looked darker and dingier than normal. It only had one small window, and very little light ever crept through. Ginny Weasley sat quietly on her bed. She twirled her hair around her finger, and waited. Ginny hated waiting.

Despite the gloomy looking room, this was the first night Ginny had felt alive in..well..she didn't know how long. She actually didn't know why she was still alive. She had been given to Draco Malfoy as a "present" from Voldemort. Draco could do what he liked, so long as he didn't kill Ginny. He had actually been required to spend a "torture" hour with Ginny. Ginny recalled it with a smile on her face.

Malfoy had stumbled into her room. Ginny had prepared herself for the unforgivable curse that was coming. But Draco had just stood at the door.

"Look Ginny, I don't want to do this to you, but he'll kill me if I don't. So please, make your screaming sound convincing."

From that point on, Draco had become the only bright spot in the day. When he could, he'd sneak into Ginny's room to talk. He had grown weak from doing Voldemort's bidding. He apparently hadn't fully comprehended what it would mean to be a death eater. He now knew he couldn't kill an innocent person. But Draco was stuck. He was in a prison just like Ginny.

"Before Dumbledore died, he told me he could hide my family? Do you think the Order could still do that?" He had asked one night. Ginny had finally understood what had made Draco Malfoy change. When he knew that the Dark Lord was more than likely going to kill him and his family, regardless of what Draco did, and that Dumbledore - the man he had been trying to kill- was willing to save him.

Draco and Ginny eventually decided to escape together. And they were going to on this night. Ginny shook in anticipation. Voldemort had left, and she was waiting. The plan was for him to unlock her door, stun his mother, father and Aunt Bellatrix, steal Ginny's wand, get out of the property and apparate It sounded a lot easier than it would be. She heard a click at the door, and Draco opened it slowly. She stepped out into the Hallway and listened.

_Thud_

He stunned Bellatrix first, knowing that his own mother and father wouldn't attack him; he stunned his father next. He was in the kitchen, and he didn't see Draco do it, but his mother had seen it. Before she had a chance to question Draco, Ginny stunned her. She took her own wand from Bella, and began searching for Bellatrix's wand too.

"Hurry up, she'll be waking up soon!" Draco yelled.

Ginny was about to give up before she spotted the wand across the floor. She ran over and grabbed it. Draco and Ginny bolted out of the house. He grabbed her hand and spun around. They had escaped, apparated to the shrieking shack, with the ability to get onto Hogwarts grounds. Ginny was finally free. They followed the passage out of the shrieking shack.

"Where does this come out?"

"The Whomping Willow." Ginny replied. She smiled. She didn't know how long she had been captured, it seemed like years.

"What do you mean the whomping willow"

"Are you actually scared? We just escaped from Voldemort, a little tree isn't going to do that much harm." Draco muttered something under his breath. Silence fell between the two.

"Look Ginny, um, you don't know what has gone on."

"Well, what's been going on?"

"I didn't have the heart to tell you. But Bellatrix, she killed a few members of the Order." He was unable to look at her.

"Who." She didn't ask, she demanded.

"Your Parents.."

"WHAT!" Ginny screamed and began to sob. He pulled Ginny into a hug, trying to comfort her. "When?" She asked.

"A few months ago. Percy and Charlie also died. And Professor Moody." Ginny cried harder. She had missed the last moments with her family. She sobbed in Draco's arms, tears drenching Draco's shoulder. She shook violently.

"But how? They were protected. It..they…are you sure it isn't a mistake?"

"Aunt Bella can turn into whoever she wants to turn into, she's a metamorphagus." He said, quietly. "Your family didn't know you were missing." Ginny smiled through her tears, she had wondered why no one tried to save her.

"Wait, that woman was me?" She said, clearly outraged. "UGH, for how long, what did she do to me?"

Draco ignored her question and continued. "Ginny, I don't know why, but you are incredibly important to Voldemort, but he can't have any idea where you are. I know you won't like this, but I think we should hide in the Room of requirement, until I can talk to someone."

"I don't need protection Draco."

"You were captured, seems like you do need protection." She kicked him in the shin in response. He winced, but began to plead. "Please Ginny, just until we are sure you are protected. Just until we know who to trust."

"Go to Harry."

"He won't talk to me."

"Make him. If there is one person in the world to trust that is against Voldemort, it's Harry. And we can help him, Hermione and Ron. We have to help them. My family.. We know things. You are on our side, aren't you Draco?" With silence as a response Ginny began to remove herself from Draco's arms, but he stopped her.

"Of course." He whispered as he leaned in to kiss Ginny.

Voldemort knew of the escape immediately. He burst into the Malfoy Manor. Lucius, Narcissa and Bellatrix knelt as soon as he walked into the room.

"GET UP, ALL OF YOU!!" He yelled. "WHERE IS SHE?"

"It seems, my lord, that her and Draco.." Lucius had started.

"You're son! She escaped with your son." His voice seemed to calm down, he spoke softly, it almost sounded like a hiss. "You have made mistake after mistake. The Dark Lord forgives those who are loyal, Lucius, but you have cost me too much." And with a flick of his wand, Lucius was dead. His cold body crumpled to the floor, his eyes still wide open. Narcissa broke into a loud sob. Voldemort turned to her, wanting to get rid of the whole family. Bella, however, knew what he was about to do, and got to her knees and begged.

"PLEASE NOT CISSY." She sobbed into his robes. Voldemort looked disgusted, but did as Bellatrix requested and stormed out of the manor.


	16. I've Just Seen A Face

Holiday break had begun; Harry, Hermione and Ron were all happy to see a majority of the students leave, as it would be much easier to wander around the school, searching for clues as to who could be the heir of Ravenclaw, and who could be R.A.B, and where the cup could possibly be. It seemed as if Harry was spending every second of the day in the Room of Requirement, staring at the picture, knowing he had seen it before. They didn't seem to have any luck, though.

Christmas was coming shortly. Harry had asked Mrs. Granger if he could have the photograph book he spotted at their house so Hermione could look at it. He had gotten the pictures redeveloped magically, so that the photographs were now like wizard pictures, and they moved around.

On Christmas morning, Harry woke up, with a small pile of pictures near his bead. Fleur had taken the lead in the family, and had made everyone Christmas cookies and had given Harry and Ron a watch. Ron and Harry had bought each other wizards candy, which they began to dig into as soon as waking up. But within an hour they were full of it, and decided to meet Hermione out in the common room.

Hermione had managed to get her hands on the first snitch Harry had ever played with. Harry thought the gift was amazing, and brought back the memory of how he managed to get onto the quidditch team. Hermione had gotten one of Krum's snitch's, which had Krum's signature on it, for Ron. Ron's response reminded Harry of an eleven year old Ginny.

When she opened her gift, that Harry had given her, Harry saw her wipe away a tear. "Thank you." She whispered. She ran up and hugged Harry, and then went to her room to change.

The trio left to go to the room of requirement, as usual, on Christmas day. Hermione had brought her photo book with her, as she hadn't gotten a chance to look at it. Harry watched her play with her hair, and look at the book again, as she was walking. She'd smile whenever she'd look at it. He was so glad, he had made her so happy. All of a sudden he felt something in his chest that made him stop moving.

They entered the room, and the wall of the Heirs was once again, stopped at Ravenclaw. Hermione immediately started looking though the pages of her photo book. But it seemed like she felt guilty for not doing any work, and began to help them. Harry's head began to hurt. It felt like they've searched through every book, came up with every possible theory for where the cup could be (none of which they really wanted to test, seeing as they all revolved around Death Eaters.) and they had no idea who R.A.B. could possibly be.

"Do you think Dumbledore's picture would know who the heir to Ravenclaw is, or where we can find him or her?" Hermione asked, more to herself than to Ron or Harry. She then got off of her seat, and left. Harry assumed it was to go talk to Dumbledore's picture.

Ron once again walked over towards the Hogwarts Founders family tree.

"She looks so familiar." He muttered, on his way there, he knocked over Hermione's photo graph book, which had been sitting on a shelf. Harry heard a loud gasp. He would kill Ron if he had ruined Hermione's book.

"Harry, come her quickly." Ron had lifted the book up. It didn't look as if it had been damaged, but Harry didn't fully trust Ron. "Look." He pointed to a picture of what looked like Hermione's Great Great Grandmother _Rosalind Bonham._

"So it's.."

"Hermione. Harry, we're just stupid. Of course it's Hermione. That woman looks just like her, and just think about it.._Hermione_.."

"But she's a Gryffindor."

"Because she chose to be a Gryffindor. Neville is too." Ron was clearly right. And the picture, God how stupid were they, she looked like Hermione. At that moment, Hermione stormed through the door.

"Ugh, unbelievable, what does he think this is..a game."

"What's wrong Hermione?" Harry asked cautiously.

"Dumbledore's portrait. Said he knows who the Heir is, but thinks I need to figure it out for myself. Said he has full confidence in me, that it's about the journey." Hermione snorted. Harry found Hermione's anger amusing, considering the situation. "I mean really." She said. Her face red with anger. Ron started laughing, and before Hermione could bow up at him, Harry interrupted.

"Hermione, we know who the heir is."

"Harry, you figured it out! Oh Harry how ever did you find out? In a book? See, I've told you, you are just as clever as I am, you never listen to me."

"Hermione, Ron figured it out."

"Really." Hermione's response was similar to when she found out Ron would be a prefect with her instead of Harry. A disbelief swept over her face for a moment.

"Well who is it Ron?" She asked.

"You."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"He's not Hermione, look." Harry brought her photo book over to Hermione and showed her the picture. Harry noticed Hermione's scent when he stood next to her. She smelt of lavender and vanilla, he found it quite intoxicating. Hermione looked deeply in the picture, the trio remained silent. Standing so close to her, Harry couldn't help but notice just how pretty Hermione had become. He's known her since she was a little girl, and for the first time he seemed to recognize her as a beautiful woman. The realization was uncomfortable at best.

Hermione put down her book, and took the wand out of her necklace. She set it on the floor. Harry watched as strange fire sparked out of her wand, and onto Ravenclaw's wand. The wand let out a scream, and shriveled before their eyes, leaving only it's ashes. When Hermione was sure it was completely dead, she sucked the fire back into her wand and then they started cleaning up the place.

"I guess I am the Heir then." She said softly.

"Hermione, what if I had been wrong? She shrugged.

"You had to be right, Ron."

Later that evening, despite moving a step towards his final go, Harry found it hard to sleep. The reason for his insomnia having nothing to do with Voldemort. His thoughts continued to drift towards Hermione. Towards her scent, her soft curls, and gentle laugh. Hermione had looked especially pretty today, on Christmas. A pang of guilt ran through his heart. Harry shouldn't think of Hermione like _that. _She was his best friend, practically a sister. And besides, she'd never reciprocate the feelings.


	17. Not Guilty

**Not Guilty **

Harry awoke the next morning feeling slightly ashamed of himself. His new feelings for Hermione consuming most of his time. He couldn't think straight. It didn't help that once again, the trio seemed to be stuck with nothing to do but think.

He got up, dressed himself, and looked over at Ron, whom was still sleeping peacefully. How would Ron feel if Harry and Hermione ever dated? Harry thought, but he quickly shook his mind of the thought and walked into the common room.

Hermione sat in her pajamas, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't slept much. Harry thought it must have shocked her, that she did have ties to wizards and witches. He'd like to see the look on Draco's face.

"So what do we do now?" For a moment, Harry thought she was asking about their relationship, but he quickly realized she meant the Horcrux hunt.

"Back to the room of requirement, I'd guess, as soon as Ron wakes up. More thinking, maybe some inspiration will come to us." Hermione laughed, and they sat in silence, waiting for Ron to wake.

Eventually, they decided to go to breakfast, as Ron was clearly sleeping in that day. Harry filled up on all of the delicious Hogwarts treats, while Hermione read the paper.

"Four more deaths." She said. Harry knew Hermione feared reading the paper and finding out her parents had been murdered. But Harry wondered whether the Daily Prophet would actually report a muggle killing.

Ron stumbled into the dinning hall, he rubbed his eyes sleepily and joined Harry and Hermione at the table, grabbing each and every item of food that was available.

"So, what are we doing today?" Ron asked, while still pilling food onto his plate.

"We're back to brainstorming. Who and where is R.A.B. and where could the cup be." Hermione answered, she looked away while Ron shoveled food into his mouth.

"Well, we could always go kill the snake." Harry suggested sarcastically.

"ah finkweshubgo hu va wum ov requiremem." Ron said. Harry and Hermione stared blankly.

"What was that?"

Ron swallowed, "Back to the room, maybe we'll get a new idea."

As disgusted as they were with his table manors, Harry and Hermione agreed with Ron and headed towards the room. Much to their dismay, Draco Malfoy was waiting at the spot where the door would be.

"What do you suppose he's doing?" Harry asked, remembering what happened last year.

"It looks like he's waiting for something." Hermione said. The trio sat and waited for Draco to leave, but yet he stayed. After forty-five minutes of waiting, Hermione stood up from her spot and exclaimed "This is just silly, we're prefects!" Hermione stood up and bolted towards Malfoy, Ron and Harry gingerly followed.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" she said sternly. It amazed Harry how much she could resemble Professor McGonagall. Harry held his wand behind his back, just in case.

"Can I talk to you three for a moment?" He said quietly. Ron rolled his eyes, but Hermione and Harry looked at each other, both having the strange feeling that they should listen to what Malfoy has to say.

"Just, come in here." Malfoy said, as he paced back and fourth three times, a door appearing where it always does. Ron clearly did not trust Malfoy. His wand was out at the ready, but Malfoy ignored him, and opened the door.

And there Ginny sat. She looked skinny and pale. Her long hair looked like a curtain framing her face. Her eyes had deep dark circles around them.

"Hi." She whispered softly. She smiled at the trio, Harry had the distinct impression smiles had been rare from Ginny for a while.

"What happened Ginny?" Hermione asked, kneeling beside her. Ginny didn't say anything, but a tear slid from her eyes and she pulled Hermione into a tight hug.

"Ginny has been captured by Voldemort since our fifth year." Draco said. "Bellatrix and Ginny switched places that night at the Ministry of Magic." Ginny nodded, confirming his story.

"Wait..I dated.." Harry mumbled.

"That explains the love potion." Hermione said. "It also explains the sudden change in personality."

"Aunt Bella is a metamorphagus." Draco said.

"I had Bellatrix in my house. Why didn't she just kill us all?" Ron asked.

"Well, she did eventually, anyone who was in there. But she was working as a spy, as obviously Snape couldn't be involved in the Order anymore." Draco stated. Ginny began to cry.

"It's all my fault, I got myself captured, my family would still be--" Draco cut her off and began to comfort her. Hermione, Ron and Harry looked at each other awkwardly, and Ron muttered something about refusing to have a Malfoy be a part of his family. After a moment, Ron went towards his sister. He was clearly relieved to know she hadn't murdered their family, and that she wasn't a death eater. He held her as she cried. Her tears were partially from the guilt of her family, partially from the past two years of being captured, and partially because she was just so happy to have escaped.

"Listen, I know it's hard to trust me, but I've been around Voldemort, I can probably help. Don't you think it would be good to start up the D.A. again." Malfoy said.


	18. Come Together

**Come Together **

Ron readily agreed to Draco's proposal. This shocked Harry, but he also seemed to agree to Draco's idea. Hermione on the other hand, didn't say a word for a moment.

"Hold on while I talk to Ron and Harry outside." Hermione said. She dragged Harry and Ron outside of the door.

"What's that about, it's a fantastic idea." Ron said.

"So you trust Draco Malfoy. And you trust that _that _is Ginny Weasley?" Hermione asked.

"You hugged her too, Hermione." Ron retorted.

"Look, this isn't about snappy comebacks Ron. Hermione's right. If it wasn't the real Ginny Weasley before, how do we know it's the real one now?" Harry said. Hermione bit her bottom lip.

"We'll I've got a good question. She walked back into the room of requirement, and whispered something in Ginny's ear. Ginny answered back. Once again, it was apparently correct as Ginny and Draco did not die on the spot. Hermione smiled and looked at Ron and Harry.

"Do you think we should completely fill them in?" Hermione asked. The idea of telling Draco Malfoy what they were up to would have seemed ludicrous, but was clearly the best decision at the time. Hermione heated Harry's coin, and they sat and waited - expecting Luna and Neville to arrive at any moment.

When Luna and Neville entered the room of requirement, Ginny rushed to her side, hugging her the way she hugged Hermione. Neville on the other hand, noticed Draco Malfoy, and looked at him suspiciously.

"All right everyone, sit down." Hermione said after clearing her throat. Neville slowly walked towards the rest of the group, not fully trusting the situation.

"Ginny what happened to you?" Luna asked. Draco had given the trio the shorter version and they were just as interested in learning about Ginny as the rest of the group was in learning the new situation.

"Well, that night at the Ministry of Magic, Bella switched with me, after I broke my leg."

"That's crazy, we would have seen.." Ron started.

"No, remember, you had been attacked by the brain and Luna was focused on you. Bellatrix just transformed into me and started walking with you, while they captured me."

"Why you?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I'm not sure really. I suppose Harry would have caught on if it was you or Ron. And I'm in the family so I would find out everything that was going on."

"I dated Bellatrix..that's disgusting. But wait, that's impossible, I saw her, I tried to curse her. She killed Sirius"

"That was someone else." Ginny said.

"There's another metamorphagus?" Ron asked.

"No, someone used Polyjuice potion. I'm not quite sure who it was though." Draco said. "But I knew there was a plan to swap someone. The Dark Lord assumed you would not be alone, and just trusted Aunt Bella to make the right swap."

"So, what happened to you?" Hermione asked Ginny softly.

"They took me back to their headquarters and put me in a small room. Voldemort gave me to Draco, hoping he would torture me."

"Basically telling me to torture you. She was a gift from the Dark Lord. I just wasn't allowed to kill her. I'm not sure why I wasn't allowed to, but the Dark Lord made it quite clear I wasn't allowed to kill you." Harry noticed Hermione give Ginny a funny look again, but Hermione didn't say anything.

"So why are you with her now?" Neville asked.

"I wanted out. Being a death eater..its…well I don't want to be a part of it. He's going to kill my whole family unless we destroy him. As I'm sure you all know." Draco said.

Draco and Ginny continued their tale, Ginny broke into tears several times, Draco always the quickest to comfort her. Harry felt more emotions than he thought he was capable of feeling. Guilt because he didn't notice that Ginny had been captured and was someone different, and strangely at peace with Draco. Harry knew it wasn't wise to trust a former death eater so quickly, but Draco had returned - escaped with - Ginny, and Ginny's still alive and physically unharmed. And of course disgust, Harry had gone to second base with Bellatrix.

When it was Harry, Hermione and Ron's turn to inform the others, they looked at each other, each person taking in a deep breath knowing the chance they were about to take. Hermione took a deep breath, and began.

"Draco, do you know what Horcruxes are?" Draco shook his head. Hermione began her in depth description and Draco seemed a bit horrified.

"But who would want to do that?" Ginny asked.

"Voldemort cares about living, not his soul." Hermione said, and then she continued with the explanation. Harry then took over, explaining what Horcruxes he had, and what they needed.

"Dumbledore destroyed the ring. I destroyed the Diary, Hermione Destroyed the Wand. The locket, is with R.A.B. and we have to find that person. The snake is also believed to be a Horcrux."

"Oh ew." Ginny said, showing her distaste for Nagini.

"Then there is the cup of Hufflepuff."

"Aunt Bellatrix has a cup of Hufflepuff, I don't know if it's _the_ cup." Draco said.

"Oh yea, that's right. It was in my room, in a wall. I blasted a hole through the wall once and we saw it." Ginny said.

"Do you remember where the spot in the wall was?" Harry asked, getting excited. This would leave the trio with only two more Horcruxes to destroy.

"Well, I'm sure I could find it again. I mean, I know the general area." Ginny said. "But please Harry, I just escaped from there, can we not go back tonight." She said with a slight smile. Draco put a protective arm over her shoulder.

"No, of course not tonight Ginny. This has got to be very carefully planned." Hermione responded. She nonchalantly elbowed Ron in the ribs to stop him from crackling his knuckles and glaring at Malfoy.

The seven of them sat on the floor and discussed their options. Harry had to admit, Malfoy sharing his information was certainly helpful. He knew the entire layout of Bellatrix's manor. He also knew the times in which she'd be away, and where the alarm charms were located and what they were. (Which meant Hermione went to the Library and returned a half an hour later fully capable of disarming any alarm in that manor.

Naturally Hermione and Harry were the planners. Harry was the chosen one, and planning is instinctive to Hermione. Ginny and Draco had felt the need to bathe, shower, and eat. Which was pretty reasonable, considered they had done very little of those three things in the past week. Luna and Ron were nowhere to be found, but generally speaking, Hermione and Harry wouldn't need them for planning out this mission anyway.

"I think we ought to plan on Bellatrix being there." Hermione said, as they sat in their common room.

"But Draco said she's always out from around three to five."

"That was before, with Ginny gone, who knows where she is. And anyway, it would be our luck to have her in the house, and have us expecting her not to be."

"Well yes, but I'd rather we wait for her to leave."

"How would we do that, she'd probably come in find us. No, I think it's best if we hide ourselves and assume she's there. "

"My invisibility cloak will not fit the seven of us, it barely fit's the three of us."

"We'll have to figure out a way to fit all of us. Personally, I'd rather just You, Ron and I and Draco go. But we know Ginny, Neville and Luna will never let us go without them, and we know we'll need Neville to destroy the cup. Plus we might need Ginny to find the place where she blew the whole in the wall, Draco might not remember where it is."

Harry and Hermione discussed the planning for hours. Yawning, Hermione looked at the time.

"It's past two, where do you suppose Ron is?"

Harry shrugged. "Maybe we should go look for them. Harry and Hermione checked the room of requirement, where Ginny and Draco were sleeping peacefully. They walked the corridors dodged water balloons from Peeves before stopping in the library.

"Hermione this is Ron we're tal-"

"SHHH" Hermione interrupted, she pointed towards a corner in the library. Luna and Ron were cuddled together. An occasional snog and constant handholding, Harry could tell this had been a romantic evening for Ron. He looked at Hermione for her reaction, surprisingly Hermione was smiling.

"I bet she wont' call him 'Won Won.'"


	19. Strawberry Fields Forever

Harry and Hermione had sent an owl to Fred and George to ask for their invisibility hats. They had arrived three days later and seemed to work fine. There was one issue with the hats, the magic lasted only an hour.

Because of this flaw Hermione insisted that Harry wore his invisibility cloak. He wasn't crazy about the idea, but Hermione insisted. Stating that, he was the chosen one and needed to be protected above anyone else. Harry really wasn't crazy about that.

Ginny told him she'd use her bat boogey hex on him if he didn't, and Harry was instantly convinced.

Harry took a deep breathe. Attempting to steal from Bellatrix reminded him of the phrase "poking the bear." Extremely dangerous, and quite stupid. Granted, they must do it. He grabbed Hermione's hand and they twirled, apparating to the street where Bellatrix's manor was on. Ron, Ginny, Luna, Neville and Draco all tipped their hats, showing themselves for a split second.

As much as it sickened Harry to use Snape's spell, he cast the muffliato spell, in order for talking to be possible. Hermione spoke first.

"All right guys, Ginny and Draco are going to lead us to Ginny's room."

"Do you have to call it that?" Ginny asked. Hermione ignored her.

"Obviously we can't see each other, so we'll have to follow each other by voice. We should all always be able to hear each other, but no one else will."

"The most important piece of information..make sure your hat stays on. You NEED to stay invisible. And the invisibility lasts an hour." Harry said. Hermione passed around coins. "These coins will go hot at five minutes till in hour, if you feel it get warm, you must run out of the house and apparate, as soon as possible, no matter what." Harry finished. He knew "no matter what" wouldn't apply to anyone. But he tried to make himself clear none the less. His friends were not going to die today.

They followed Draco and Ginny's voice, Neville stumbled on Luna a few times but overall they got to the house without a problem.

It seemed as if Bellatrix was not at home, like Draco said she wouldn't be. They quietly snuck up into Ginny's old room. Remaining as quiet as possible. Harry knew he was being paranoid but he felt someone watching him. Hermione seemed to feel the same as he could tell she was nervous by how hard she was gripping his hand. Without warning, someone (Harry assumed it was Ginny) blasted a whole through the wall. Ginny found the cup immediately, but Harry barely had time for a smile before her heard Hermione.

"Oh bloody hell." She yelled, as she randomly started blasting holes at the wall. "STUPEFY." She screamed.

"Hermione becareful, you don't know where all of us are." Ron yelled. Before Harry had not seen her lose her cool like this.

"Wormtail was in here. We have to go." She said, quietly.

"We can't apparate out of here," Draco said "We have to get out as quickly as possible."

Someone grabbed the cup, they made their way down the stairs. Ron spotted Wormtail, and Harry saw a flash of green light, and the rat was dead. Someone else opened the door, where they ran straight into Bellatrix.

"CRUCIO" Bellatrix screamed, and Harry heard a high pitch yell. Reminding himself of Dumbledore, Harry quickly and silently Stupefied everyone else in the room, so they were unable to attack Bellatrix.

Harry could hear Luna's pain as she screamed from the torture. Her hat fell off her, so Bellatrix could see the child that she was causing so much pain too. Bellatrix cackled, pointed her wand at Luna and walked down the cellar, dragging Luna behind her.

"Harry throw off his invisibility cloak, and Hermione, the only member of the group Harry did not stupefy, took off her hat.

"Listen Hermione, take them back to Hogwarts. We're idiots, we completely forgot about our rings."

"I'll take them back Harry if you promise not to move from here, until I return. It's a trap for you. Bellatrix knows your going to try and save Luna. Promise me you'll stay here?" Hermione was practically begging. Harry knew he wouldn't be able to save Luna from Bellatrix alone anyway. So he obliged. Hermione grabbed a hold of everyone's hand, and vanished back to Hogwarts. Before Harry had time to think of a plan.

"Put your invisibility cloak back on." Hermione hissed, as she put her hat back on. Hermione and Harry began to tip toe down the cellar stairs, where they could begin to hear Bellatrix's cackles and Luna's screams of pain.

"Where is Harry Potter?" Bellatrix screamed.

"I don't know." Luna said weakly. Hermione and Harry could not see what was going on in that room. It was locked, and Harry knew Hermione was trying every charm and spell to unlock it. But Harry could tell just by Bellatrix psychotic yelling and cackling. She wasn't questioning Luna to question her. She was like a cat playing with it's prey. Unless they were able to save her, Luna was not going to survive.

Hermione let out a frustrated scream and kicked the door. Bellatrix only didn't hear her because of her own wild laughter and Luna's torturous screams.

"Harry, the door feels hot."

"I smell smoke."

They had no idea what was going on. Luna's screams of pain grew louder and Bellatrix continued her laughter. Hermione violently shook the door knob, but it wouldn't budge and the heat burned her hand.

Slowly but surely Luna's screams died down, and Bellatrix's laughter stopped. She opened the door and Hermione and Harry knew this was their chance to run in and save Luna before the next torture session. Hermione looked in first, and before Harry had a chance to look, Hermione threw up. Bellatrix noticed, and started wildly cursing at everything. Harry, knowing they had to leave, grabbed Hermione by the arm and transported them back to the Hogwarts headquarters.


	20. Soldier of Love

Soldier Of Love

Ginny rubbed the back of her throbbing head. She groaned slightly and sat up. Around her, Neville, Draco and Ron were all waking up themselves.

"What happened?" Draco asked. Ginny wasn't sure herself. They were at Bella's manor, she had the cup in her hand. Then things got fuzzy.

"Where are the others?" Ron asked, suddenly realizing Hermione, Harry and _Luna _were not with them. "Should we go back." He asked, ready to transport back before an answer was given.

"No." Draco said sternly. Ginny and Neville looked between Ron and Draco, waiting to see what happened next. Ginny braced herself for the inevitable which would be breaking up the fight.

"Why not. Look, I know you don't care what happens to Luna, and Hermione and Harry. But they are my friends, I love them. And we need to save.."

"Harry has survived many close deaths before. And Hermione's a better witch then all of us combined. And Luna is with them. They will all be fine."

"Yea, says the former death eater."

"That's out of line, Ron!" Ginny said angrily.

"Dumbledore trusted a "former" death eater too. That worked out well." Ron snapped back.

"LOOK." Draco shouted, over Ginny and Ron's yelling. Harry and I may not be close to friends. But I need him alive to. If Voldemort wins, I'm as good as dead. I know you are in love and everything, Ron, but there is a reason we are all back here. Harry wants us here." Draco grabbed the cup from Ginny's hands and called Neville towards him.

"Pretend it's Bellatrix Neville." Ginny said. Neville seemed as focused as he ever was. He lifted his wand.

"Avada Kedavra" Ginny, Draco, Ron and Neville all watched the cup slowly turn green and shrivel up. Ginny could have sworn she heard a hissing sound as the cup "died." They all stared in silence. None of them really believing Neville was capable of using the Avada Kedavra curse correctly. But Voldemort did strange things to people. For as much devastation and dividing that he did, it was amazing how it had brought them together.

"I have to go to class, Luna and I have history of magic. Binns won't except a tardy for any reason." Neville said quietly. As he got up to leave, it was like a light bulb had switched on for Ginny and Ron.

"Binns" both said, emphasizing the B.

"Do you think?"

"It couldn't be." Ginny said.

"Maybe.."

"Would anyone like to clarify what you two are saying nothing about?" Draco said.

"R.A.B. Binns died from something, and His last name.."

"Oh come on, the most boring man in the school found out The Dark Lord's-"

" Voldemort's" Ginny Corrected him. Draco looked paler than usual, but corrected himself.

"Voldemort's secret." Draco finished.

"It's possible, I mean it fits.."

"yes, but don't you think Dumbledore would have connected the dots." Neville said.

"He brought back Slughorn in order to get the memory, maybe he thought Binns knew something too." Ron said excitedly.

"Then why did he go after the necklace?" Ginny asked.

"I said, maybe Dumbledore thought Binns knew something, not that Dumbledore knew Binns had the locket." Ron said. Ron, Ginny, Neville and Draco all looked at each other and bolted out of the Hermione and Harry's room. As they were getting close to Binns room, Ron spoke up.

"Listen, you two aren't supposed to be here. No one knows where you are, and it could put you two in danger to get caught here, so don't let anyone in the classroom see you." Ginny and Draco nodded. Ron looked as if he thought it was a bad idea for Ginny and Draco to even leave Harry and Hermione's room, ever.

Ron poked his head into Professor Binns' door. "Professor, may we have a word?" He asked. Professor Binns looked annoyed, but floated out of the door.

"Why Miss Weasley and Mr. Malfoy, what are you two-" He started.

"We haven't got the time." Ginny said. "Listen, do you know a secret about you know who?" She asked, hurriedly. Professor Binns didn't say anything, but Ginny could tell he knew what she was talking about. "Listen professor, if you know anything…Well, you know Harry is the chosen one right, and he can't beat Voldemort without your knowledge. Well really, do you have Slytherin's locket?"

Professor Binns looked shocked. He didn't expect Ginny to have as much information as she did. He didn't think anyone knew He who must not be named secret.

"My dear girl, I do. However, I will not hand it over."

"WHY NOT?" Ron screamed, frustrated. "It won't do you any good."

"How do you supposed I did." He said.

"We won't. Please..just…if you want him gone, we need it." Neville said quietly.

"We know how to destroy them." Draco finished. Professor Binns looked defeated, but went into his classroom. Neville followed him inside.

"It's in this drawer," professor Binns pointed. "I fear I am about to harm one of my students." He said quietly. But Neville took the locket and they left together, all heading to the room of requirement.

"How are we going to get your father to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux?" Ron asked.

"My father-"

"Is the heir of Slytherin."

"no he's not, Voldemort is the heir of Slytherin." Ginny said, knowingly.

"He was the heir. But he died, sort of..well he died enough to not be considered the heir. Draco's father is the heir."

"My father's dead." Draco said.

"….well, the room of requirement told us who it was once before." Ron said. They all shrugged and continued on their way to that room. Once inside, they noticed the wall. Draco's father was faded on the tree, and Draco was the new heir.

"Well isn't that ironic." Ron said. "A few years ago, we were sure you were the heir.." Draco raised his eyebrows but then looked around the room. "what am I supposed to do, 'Avada Kedavra'?" he asked.

"Yes, but don't point your wand at Neville when you actually do the spell." Ron said, noticing the accidental pose of Draco's wand. The four of them laughed, a little uncomfortably, but then Draco set the necklace on the ground.

"AVADA KEDAVRA." he said. Just like the cup before it, the necklace shriveled and screamed as it died.


	21. Cry For A Shadow

**Cry For A Shadow **

Hermione and Harry returned totheir common room. Hermione vomited on the spot.

"Hermione, we have to figure out a plan. We've got to go back in save her. We won't have much time, we know Luna won't talk, and Bellatrix will just get bored."

"Harry." Hermione sobbed. "She's dead. Bellatrix burned her alive." Hermione collapsed on the floor. Harry's heart sank, he had been determined to not let this happen. He felt as terrible as Hermione looked.

Hermione sobbed on the floor where she had crumpled down to. Harry sat on his favorite chair in the room where he could see outside the window. The silence carried on for what seemed like an eternity. Hermione finally got up to wash herself up, preparing to tell the news to the others. Harry peered out the window, looking at Hagrid's house.

There was something strange about it. It looked dead. Maybe with all of the innocent deaths, the world began to look dead, Harry thought. But then he looked above the House.

"HERMIONE!" Harry yelled. "COME ON, WE'VE GOT TO GET TO HAGRID'S."

Hermione ran back into the common room.

"Oh no, please not Hagrid." She saw it too, above Hagrid's hut was the dark mark. Hermione and Harry bolted from their common room, down the ever moving stairs, through the great wall and out the door. They ran along the path to Hagrid's hut and stopped when they saw the dark figure standing outside the door. Hagrid's body lay on the ground next to his hut, Fluffy crying beside it. Harry saw tears fall from Hermione's cheeks but she remained silent. In a rush of anger, Harry tried to storm the dark figure, but Hermione grabbed his arm to stop him.

"This is not the time to be rash." She hissed in his ear.

The dark figure, however, lifted his arm to curse Fluffy, but before Harry had a chance to react, Hermione quickly moved her arm, and the dark figure fell to the ground.

Harry and Hermione ran towards it.

"Snape..Hadn't he done enough." Hermione said sarcastically. Harry tied his arms and legs with his wand, and they brought Snape into Hagrid's hut.

"Grab his wand Harry, I'll be right back." Hermione said. Harry took Snape's wand from him, and waited for Hermione to return.

Harry had never wanted to defeat Voldemort more in his life. Hagrid had been murdered. The very first wizard Harry knew was gone. He was sick of his friends dying for him, sick of watching families and friendships be destroyed because one man, or whatever he was, had a set of twisted values encouraging people to kill for the cause of discrimination. Harry was going to stop it. He was the chosen one, and Hagrid was the last straw.


	22. Your Mother Should Know

**Your Mother Should Know **

When Hermione returned she looked partially flustered, but there was also something in her eyes, Harry had never seen before.

"I couldn't find Ron or the others, but I did get rid of the dark mark sign." she said quietly.

"What are we doing?"

"Waiting til he wakes up, I've got truth serom." She said, almost hissing.

They waited minutes, although it seemed hours, for Snape to open his eyes. When he did, Harry noticed Hermione's hair seemed to flow electricity, she put her want at the ready.

"He trusted you." She said quietly. Harry wasn't sure whether Hermione had meant, Dumbledore, Hagrid, or herself. She was so angry she was physically shaking. Snape snickered.

"Well well, Bellatrix is right, you aren't capable of murder Mr. Potter. Otherwise, I suspect I might be dead."

"The dead can't answer questions." Hermione sniped back. And suddenly, Harry's head began to fill with them.

"Why did he trust you?"

"Why did who trust me? Voldemort or Dumbledore?" Snape said, smirking still.

"Both? And answer quickly before I just decide to off you." Harry said. Snape just laughed.

"Dumbledore trusted me because he wanted me to be good. And Voldemort trusted me because he thought he was always right, and that he'd know if someone was betraying him."

"Well clearly he was right." Harry said.

"No, not particularly. I would have been on Dumbledore's side if he had a chance at winning. But honestly, Dumbledore was going to die before Voldemort. I'll be the greatest wizard alive once he is gone. I have my own ambitions Mr. Potter, and none of them are to be second in command to those that I am superior too."

"Dumbledore said he had proof.."

"Oh, yes yes..Mr. Potter. He thought I loved your mother. In fact, I'm surprised he didn't show you my love letters to her. You're mother was a very pretty girl, for a mud blood, but I suppose you know all about pretty mud bloods." Snape sniggered again. Harry quickly got out his wand and pointed it at snape. He was sick of him, sick of his lies, and didn't need anymore "answers." "Oh please Mr. Potter. You couldn't kill the man responsible for your parents deaths, like you could kill me. And you know, Dumbledore would never approve." He said, laughing again. Hermione re-entered the room, Harry hadn't even noticed she'd left, she walked straight at Snape, looking in his cold black eyes. She waved her wand and a flash of green light came out of it. Snape laid dead, in Hagrid's hut.

"I guess he forgot what I was capable of." Hermione said. Hermione had never looked so scary. "Come on, we have to find the others." She said quietly. They left Hagrid's hut for the final time. Never being able to say a proper goodbye to Hagrid. Harry called at Fang to follow them inside, but he clearly wanted to stay by Hagrid's side. Harry vowed to make sure Fang would be all right, he knew Hagrid would have wanted that.

They walked back to the castle in silence. Through the Great Hall, up one flight of stares, and suddenly Hermione stopped.

"You know, with Hagrid gone, it's just a reminder…a reminder that anyone of us could..that we could die at any time." She said softly. Harry figured she would get weepy shortly. He gently rubbed the small of her back and pulled her in for a hug. "Harry, I just want you to know. I love you. I've loved you for..well it seems like forever. I love you for everything you've done with me, the nights you've comforted me, the troubles we've gone through together, the days I've..I …I just love you." She said.

Harry's world froze for the moment. He looked into her eyes, unable to say anything.

"I know, that was silly-" She started, but Harry interrupted her with a kiss. A soft sweet kiss, showing Hermione he felt the same.


	23. Don't Let Me Down

**Don't Let Me Down **

A silence fell between Harry and Hermione.

"The others." She said, Harry noticed worry in her eyes. He grabbed her hand and they ran towards the castle. No words were spoke between them as the rushed, hoping that Ron, Ginny, Neville and Draco would be all right.

"Where should we go?" Harry asked her, almost panicking.

"Maybe we should check the room of requirement?" She said. They headed up the stairs towards the room. Luckily, they did not need to go that far before running into the group.

"The room of requirement, now." Hermione ordered. The others were shocked at Hermione's cold tone, and Ron looked at Harry. Harry knew that Ron knew, but it was still going to feel awful to tell him the news.

The entered the room of requirement and Ginny started the questions.

"Where's Luna?"

"Dead. Hagrid's dead too. And I killed Snape." The group was stunned at Hermione's bluntness, but Harry was glad he wasn't the one to say it.

"Where is the cup?" Harry asked.

"I destroyed it." Draco said quietly. Draco hadn't known Luna too well, and hadn't really liked Hagrid, but he knew Hagrid was tough, and knew if he was dead, that was a major loss for the good side. Still, Draco was the least affected by the recent deaths and more able to think logically.

"So the cup, the locket, the diary, the ring, and the wand is gone? That leaves the snake." Neville said. The group looked at each other. The snake was really what the were not looking forward too.

Harry noticed a scary look on Hermione's face. Perhaps she had realized she had committed murder.

"I think there is one more." Hermione said softly. She looked down. Whatever it was Hermione didn't want to say it or believe it. For one scary moment Harry thought he could possibly be the Horcrux, but he shook it from his mind.

"I do too." Ginny said louder. Hermione looked up. "What do I need to do Hermione?"

"I think you need to die."


	24. Black Bird

**Blackbird **

"WHAT!" Ron yelled, unable to believe the words uttered from Hermione's mouth. "Are you nuts?"

"Ron, I think she's a Horcrux."

"Now, I know you're nuts." In truth, it sounded nuts to Harry too.

"Come on Hermione, Ginny a Horcrux, how could that have possibly happened?" Harry asked.

"Her first year, when she opened the Chamber. Voldemort even said that some of him is inside of her. How do we know it left?"

"She's not evil." Draco said, bluntly. He was in complete disbelief. Neville stunned into silence, and Ron looked angry. But Ginny spoke.

"Think about it, Hermione's probably right. Voldemort kidnapped me. But he didn't kill me. He didn't allow anyone else to kill me either, and you know if Bellatrix had gotten a chance…"

"that doesn't mean anything, I mean..maybe he wanted a future wife or.." Ron stuttered, he could tell that was ridiculous.

"Or he knew Harry would try to rescue her because they were together." Draco said.

"And would it really matter if I was dead or alive. Harry would still go, and Voldemort knows that." Ginny said.

The boys all seemed stuck. Each one of them, Draco, Harry, Ron, and Neville, refusing to believe that Ginny could possibly be a Horcrux, but none of them being able to come up with a way to refute the evidence.

"How does it have to be done?" Ginny asked quietly. Harry thought she was being quite brave. She didn't quiver when she asked.

"You have to do it Ginny. You are an heir of Gryffindor, and therefore you must destroy the Horcrux. I was thinking, you could go into the archway at the ministry of magic, Sirius is there." Hermione said.

"How long have you known?" Ron asked.

"Since you guys told me about the Horcrux." Ginny said.

"I meant Hermione. Hermione, how long have you been planning my sister's death?" Ron questioned.

"Ron, not now, don't bicker now." Harry said.

"I've suspected since we found out what Horcruxes are." Hermione said quietly. "I didn't want to say anything, I didn't know. But after Voldemort stole Ginny, and wouldn't harm her, well it solidified it for me. But Ginny, you have to do it. So you do it how you want to do it."

"Being with Sirius would be nice." She said, smiling weakly. Harry looked at Ron. His little sister would be taking her own life for the cause. Most of Ron's family was murdered, his girlfriend murdered, and now this. Harry's losses felt insignificant at the moment. "When should we do this?" She asked.

"Whenever you are ready, Ginny." Harry said. Ginny nodded.

"Now is as good as ever."

"Don't you want to say goodbye."

"And be convinced to do otherwise. No. I haven't seen my other brothers for years. And honestly I never thought I would see them. If I see them…I might not do what I need to do." Ginny said.

Ginny, Hermione, Harry, Neville, Ron and Draco held hands, and in a snap they were in the ministry of magic. Harry thought that hoped that it would be difficult to find the room in the department of mysteries. He wanted to buy Ginny and Ron as much time as possible. They were holding hands, both trying not to cry, to be brave, for the other.

Unfortunately, the five teenagers found the room quite quickly and easily. Almost like the room wanted them to find it. Harry felt a weight in his stomach like he had never felt before. His parents had been murdered, his friends have been killed in front of him. But he had never witnessed a friend take her own life. And he couldn't help but think it was his fault. What if they were wrong? What if Ginny dies for nothing? What if they don't win? Thoughts raced through Harry's mind and he felt as if he would break down.

He looked at Ginny. Her lips were thin, her face pale. She hugged Neville first. He couldn't keep a dry face for her, but hid his face anyway.

"It's all right, I'd rather people cry when I die then not." She said, smiling. Ginny walked over to Harry. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight.

"I never stopped hoping I'd get to be with you." Ginny whispered. Harry kissed her cheek and wiped his eyes.

She moved to Hermione next. Hermione was already sobbing. Her cold resolve evaporated at this moment. Hermione had turned into the cold military leader that someone had needed to be, but she couldn't do that at this moment. They whispered too each other, and hugged for almost five minutes. Hermione would be losing her best girlfriend.

Ginny turned to Draco. "Thank you, for everything." She said, as she hugged him. Draco lifted her chin and kissed her.

Finally she turned to her brother. They held each other, and Ginny finally broke. She sobbed in Ron's arms, and Ron held her and cried even harder.

"Be brave Ginny." Ron said to her. She nodded and walked towards the archway. She turned around and smiled, before stepping right into the archway.

"OH HARRY!" Hermione sobbed, as she ran into Harry's arms. He held her tightly, crying onto her shoulder.


	25. Young Blook

**Young Blood **

A pain in Harry's head throbbed like never before. He let go of Hermione and clutched his forehead. He felt as if he was going to be sick.

"He knows. Ginny was a Horcrux, and he knows she died." Harry stuttered.

"HARRY CLOSE YOUR MIND! HE'LL FIND US!" Hermione shrieked

"Too late." Harry said weakly. The room was in a panic, no one knew what to do. Hermione was pacing furiously.

"Keep your mind open, see if you can figure out what he's going to do." Draco said. Harry really didn't have a choice. And he knew by then anyway. There was about to be a war. They were going to need a miracle to get out of this alive.

Out of the corner of Harry's eye, he saw what looked like red silk out side floating out of the archway. Ginny's head began to appear out of the archway, her hands grasping her way out. Hermione and Draco ran over to her and pulled her out.

Neville, Ron, Harry, Hermione and Draco all stared at her, stunned.

"Sirius, he helped me out." She said softly.

"Can he get-"

"No Harry, he can't. But, I destroyed the ugly thing that was inside of me." Ginny shivered.

"Yea we know. He knows too." Ron said. "Look, I'm going to go round up the Order, I should be back shortly. Ron paused for a moment. And then ran at his sister. She jumped into his arms and they embraced.

"Well, that was a short goodbye." Ron said, smiling. "But, we need help. I'll be back."

"I don't know that we should sp-" With a snap, Hermione's words weren't heard and Ron was gone.

"We need backup. There's about to be a war, Hermione." Harry said. He knew she was worried about Ron.

"Harry, close your mind. And we'll get out of here, he's gonna know where we are. But if we can sneak up and get the snake…" Hermione said. They all nodded. Most likely, all of them would prefer that Voldemort did not know where they were hiding.

They ran to the spinning door, found their exit, and headed straight towards the hall.

"Wait." Hermione yelled. "I'll go back, and wait for Ron and the others. They need to know where we are. Before Harry could stop her, Hermione is off running.

"She'll be okay." Draco said. Ginny nodded. They continued to run, unsure of where they were going. Harry was now unable to lead, his mind wondering where Hermione could be and if she was safe.

Harry's head began throbbing. "He'll be here shortly" He said. Harry did his best to close his mind. He had no idea where Voldemort would be going, and so he figured Voldemort still believed Harry was in the Department of mysteries. "He's here." Harry almost doubled over in pain.

"what's the plan?" Draco asked.

"We need to go back and destroy the snake." Ron said.

Harry, Neville, and Ginny looked at one another. Once again they would be taking battle in the department of mysteries. Harry sincerely hoped this would be the final battle. They turned around and slowly walked back towards the spinning room.

The first door they opened was the memory room. Harry was all too familiar with this room. The last time he was in here, Ron as fighting with a brain.

The teens heard smashing and stepped in side the room. They peaked around a corner. Fenir Greyback and Lupin were in a battle. Draco whispered under his breath.

"expelliarmus." Greyback's wand fell out of his hand, giving Lupin enough time for the final blow.

"Avada Kedavra." He yelled. Greyback fell to the ground.

"God he's such a creeper." Draco said. Ginny smiled. She, Harry, and Neville agreed.

"The snake isn't in here guys." Ginny said. They turned towards the spinning door, remembering Hermione's trick, he put an X on it.

"Where do you suppose it is?" Draco asked.

"With Voldemort." Harry said.

"I need to learn to not ask questions that I don't want to know the answers too." Draco said.

"Where do you suppose Voldemort is?" Neville asked.

"Waiting. He's not going to fight yet. Not when he's so close to being mortal." Harry said.

"They opened the next door. Here they were, the room with the archway. An epic battle had broken out. Death eaters and members of the Order were fighting, Harry was astonished that Harry had went unnoticed when he entered the room.

"No Ron, Hermione or snake." Ginny said. Harry saw McGonagall run by him, sparks flying out of her wand, aimed at the soon to be defeated death eater. He saw Tonks deliver the final blow to Wormtail.

"Com on Harry. Let's go. We have to find them." Ginny yelled. They went back through the door. The room spun again. Harry noticed that there seemed to be more Xs that he had remembered placing. They entered the Time room. Harry thought he heard noise in the distance, but he was unsure of what it was. They looked around, walking through the aisles.

"I think I heard the door open." Neville whispered. They remained still for a moment. Harry eventually decided he should check who entered. He stepped out from behind the aisle, only to see an exasperated Ron.

"Harry watch out!" Ron screamed before pointing his wand towards Harry's feet and yelling "Avada Kedavra."

Harry looked down. Ron had killed the snake. The final Horcrux.

"RON YOU DID IT!" Harry yelled in excitement.

"No time to celebrate Harry. I've been looking for someone everywhere. Com on, we have to help Hermione. She's trying to fight Bellatrix."

"And you just left her." Harry's excitement quickly turned to anger. How could Ron have just left Hermione with Bellatrix. They would be lucky if Hermione wasn't dead by now.

"I can't exactly help..just come on, I'll show you." Ron said. He turned towards the door and Draco, Ginny, Harry and Neville followed him.

"Where are they?"

"The room with the prophesies." Ron stated. "I marked it with a special X."

Sure enough, the X for the room of prophesies was blue. The room stopped spinning and they entered through the room. Harry could hear the duel farther back in the room.

They walked cautiously. Harry peaked in between the prophesies to see the battle on the other side. He saw Hermione...Battling Hermione.


	26. Sun King

Sun King

**To Hermione's credit, she was easily capable of keeping up with Bellatrix, as Harry could not identify which was which simply by skill level. **

**Sparks were flying in all directions. Each Hermione's hair was puffier than Harry had ever seen it. The group stayed out of sight and watched, each wondering what to do.**

"**Oh this is ridiculous." Ginny stated, "Expelliarmus!" Hermione yelled, Ron's wand dropped to the floor. Ginny grabbed it and walked out from behind the aisle. **

**Hermione and Bellatrix stopped fighting and looked at her. Everyone was wondering what she was about to do. **

"**Sorry, Hermione." Ginny said. **_**"Crucio." **_**It became Immiedatly apparently which Hermione was actually Bellatrix. The real Hermione let the curse hit her, and she fell down. Harry ran towards her, wanting to make sure Bellatrix wouldn't' strike her while she was down. But that was pointless, Bellatrix had a new focus.**

**Bellatrix did not let the curse hit her. She used her wand to wipe away the spell and the room was filled with her hysterical laughter. Her new focus was now Ginny. **

**Ginny was clearly less skilled the Bellatrix, who still remained a Hermione look alike. Ron watched in horror, he would not lose his sister twice. **

**He ran out from his spot to protect her, forgetting he had no wand. Bellatrix noticed. Harry saw a gleam in her eye, and before he had time to react it was over. **

"**Avada Kedavra." Bellatrix yelled. Ron's body crumbled to the floor, and a hurt like Harry had never felt shocked through his entire system. Everything seemed in slow motion. Harry ran towards Ron, Hermione right behind him, tears streaming down her face. Ginny however, had turned her attention to Bellatrix.**

**Sparks flew out of Ginny's wand, she wasn't even saying curses, just thinking them, and her wand was reacting. Bellatrix was taken aback at first, before finally reacting.**

"_**Crucio" **_**Ginny yelled, it hit Bellatrix this time, her body shook in pain on the floor, Ginny kicked the wand from her hand and pointed her own wand at Bellatrix's throat.**

"**I understand why the Dark Lord was so obsessed with you. "Bellatrix said softly. She was scared. She saw the hate in Ginny's eyes. The hate, that Bellatrix had once explained to Harry, that one needed in order to hurt, in order to kill. When Hermione killed, it was out of a necessity, like a business decision. But Ginny was going to enjoy killing Bellatrix, and that scared Harry, but in some ways he couldn't blame her. There was a fine line between good and evil, and Hermione and now Ginny were straddling it. "What do you want?"**

"**I want my family back you bitch." Ginny said. She sliced her arm down, and green sparks flew out of her wand. Bellatrix laid dead. **

**Ginny fell to the floor, next to Ron's body, and sobbed, tears falling onto Ron's shirt. Draco walked towards her, and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. **

**Harry knew he had a job to do, and this was the moment, but he wanted a moment to mourn for Ron.**


	27. The Long and Winding Road

**The Long And Winding Road **

Harry waited, he felt he needed to mourn the loss of Ron, and Harry really wasn't ready to leave Ron behind.

Flashbacks of Harry's past with Ron filled Harry's brain. The first time they met, the first time they fought. Things he never really got to tell Ron. Guilt. All of it ran through Harry's head.

"I don't care if my tea leaves read 'die Ron die.'" Harry remembered with a half chuckle and a half sob.

A sharp pain filled Harry's head. "He knows, He'll be here soon." Harry said, he barely recognized his own voice. "please leave, I'm not losing anyone else." Harry said firmly.

"What!" Hermione said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"He knows Bellatrix died. He'll be here shortly. No one else will die. Leave, or I will use the imperious curse." Harry said. Hermione and Ginny went to open their mouths, both glaring at Harry for a moment. Neither wanting to leave Harry and neither wanting a final goodbye to Ron. Neville and Draco looked at each other.

"Come on, we'll help the others." Neville said. Hermione and Ginny slowly stood up and followed Neville and Draco. Harry turned back around to Ron and waited.

Harry could feel every step Voldemort made towards him in his head. Harry stood up wand at the ready. He had sworn heard the sound of a door, but no one was in site. Harry doubted very much that Voldemort would hide though. No, Voldemort would want to watch Harry die. Thinking about it, he doubted Voldemort would use a door.

Harry's head was throbbing, and then he heard him.

"Well well Harry, here we are with no one to protect you. No filthy mud blood mother or friend." Voldemort hissed. "No Dumbledore or God Father either." He smirked.

"I suppose there isn't anything to protect you, either." Said Harry. Voldemort's eyes glowed red and the battle begun. Spell after spell missed one another. Harry had no idea how he was going to defeat Voldemort but his instincts told him to keep fighting.

Harry then heard a voice.

"_Nihilum Magica_" Voldemort was suddenly surrounded by a green light, as if he was glowing. Harry looked up. There stood Hermione, refusing Harry's wishes. Her wand releasing a white band of light, which appeared to Harry to look like a ribbon.

Harry's own wand began to shake, a red band of light began to flow out of it. The bands of light wrapped around Voldemort and when the lights connected the band turned both lights into a shiny gold. Harry felt warmth through his wand as the light began to fade away. Voldemort collapsed. Harry looked at Hermione. She had saved him again.

"Did you kill him." Harry asked.

"Better." Hermione said with a smile.

"Better?"

"Come on Harry, you know you can't kill anyone." Hermione said with a bigger grin. "And I needed your help. He's magic less." Harry smiled. It was genius.


End file.
